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The Puffy Chair

post #1 of 18
2/1/07 at 10:11pm
Thread Starter 
Has anyone else seen this? I got it through Blockbuster Online and watched it tonight, and laughed almost the whole way through (rare for me). Hilarious road movie gone bad with a similar kind of deadpan humor to a Napolean Dynamite, Best in Show, etc.

This one's a sleeper, if you have the chance to rent it do. There are so few good comedies out there - this could be a cult classic one day. It's too late and I'm too tired to do a full synopsis and review - sorry. I will say that for some reason I see Robert Wood all over this thing. Napolean who?
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post #2 of 18
2/2/07 at 2:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by HTCrazy View Post

Has anyone else seen this? I got it through Blockbuster Online and watched it tonight, and laughed almost the whole way through (rare for me). Hilarious road movie gone bad with a similar kind of deadpan humor to a Napolean Dynamite, Best in Show, etc.

This one's a sleeper, if you have the chance to rent it do. There are so few good comedies out there - this could be a cult classic one day. It's too late and I'm too tired to do a full synopsis and review - sorry. I will say that for some reason I see Robert Wood all over this thing. Napolean who?

I saw this about 3 months ago and couldn't agree more, great movie.
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post #3 of 18
2/2/07 at 7:26am
I don't know how it made it to the top of my Netflix queue (perhaps Netflix put it there? After all it is a Netflix production ) but I really didn't like it.

There was nothing in the cinematography, production, acting, plot, etc. that was better than average-to-below average.

It felt (and it was) like a homemade movie with amateur actors (and they were) that didn't really know how to react to situations...
Anyway, in a world of 15_minutes_of_fame losers (read: reality TV) I'd prefer to watch something well made by professionals.

Sorry to spoil the unanimity of the thread...
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post #4 of 18
2/2/07 at 9:15am
Thread Starter 
Not that this is another Napolean Dynamite (its not, though good in its' own right), but like ND I'm sure Fluffy Chair will be a love or hate kind of film. The humor is dry and subtle at times and maybe I was in a receptive state of mind or whatever, but FC had me rolling. I don't remember the last time I saw a film with so many laugh out loud moments.
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post #5 of 18
2/2/07 at 9:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by HTCrazy View Post

Not that this is another Napolean Dynamite (its not, though good in its' own right), but like ND I'm sure Fluffy Chair will be a love or hate kind of film. The humor is dry and subtle at times and maybe I was in a receptive state of mind or whatever, but FC had me rolling. I don't remember the last time I saw a film with so many laugh out loud moments.

Hey, you liked it, that's good.
I didn't, that's not so good.

I like small independent, foreign, oddball movies (I'm not a Hollywood blockbuster kind of guy) but this one just didn't do it for me.

At least it wasn't a head-poppingly frustratingly stupid Vincent Gallo movie.
Don't get me started on that... ahem, artist...
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post #6 of 18
2/2/07 at 11:15am
I was all ready to add this to my Net Flix que, and then i read the reviews. I think I'll wait and see if IFC gets this one.
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post #7 of 18
2/2/07 at 11:51am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by lexa695 View Post

I was all ready to add this to my Net Flix que, and then i read the reviews. I think I'll wait and see if IFC gets this one.

Which reviews? I put it in my que originally because of some of the great reviews on RottenTomatoes.com where incidentally 75% of the critics gave it a thumbs up. Don't mean to be the big defender here, but I hate to see people dismiss it out of hand too - it could be the sleeper of the year.

I remember after Napolean Dynamite came out we had people over to the house that we wanted to expose the movie to. Even some people with a sense of humor similar to mine went away visibly upset at investing the last couple hours of their lives for such a worthless film. If you don't get the irony you don't get the movie - in both cases. You could say the same for Spinal Tap.
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post #8 of 18
2/2/07 at 12:02pm
Ironically I liked ND.
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post #9 of 18
2/2/07 at 12:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by HTCrazy View Post

Which reviews? I put it in my que originally because of some of the great reviews on RottenTomatoes.com where incidentally 75% of the critics gave it a thumbs up. Don't mean to be the big defender here, but I hate to see people dismiss it out of hand too - it could be the sleeper of the year.

I remember after Napolean Dynamite came out we had people over to the house that we wanted to expose the movie to. Even some people with a sense of humor similar to mine went away visibly upset at investing the last couple hours of their lives for such a worthless film. If you don't get the irony you don't get the movie - in both cases. You could say the same for Spinal Tap.

They were the reviews by people who rented it from Net Flix. They really didn't like it at all. I liked ND a lot more after a few glasses of cab.
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post #10 of 18
2/2/07 at 1:31pm
Come to think of it... I liked ND more after reading that everyone else was liking it.

The first time I tried to watch it (before it was popular) I couldnt even get through the first 15 mins....

It became popular and then suddenly I thought it was the funniest movie of all time. The truth is, I'm shallow and I didnt want to appear to be not cool enough to appreciate the obvious subtle humor of the movie....
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post #11 of 18
2/2/07 at 5:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tattootearz View Post

Come to think of it... I liked ND more after reading that everyone else was liking it.

The first time I tried to watch it (before it was popular) I couldnt even get through the first 15 mins....

It became popular and then suddenly I thought it was the funniest movie of all time. The truth is, I'm shallow and I didnt want to appear to be not cool enough to appreciate the obvious subtle humor of the movie....


That's Awesome.
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post #12 of 18
2/3/07 at 9:40am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by tattootearz View Post

Come to think of it... I liked ND more after reading that everyone else was liking it.

The first time I tried to watch it (before it was popular) I couldnt even get through the first 15 mins....

It became popular and then suddenly I thought it was the funniest movie of all time. The truth is, I'm shallow and I didnt want to appear to be not cool enough to appreciate the obvious subtle humor of the movie....

LOL - You might be the most honest person in NYC (I know but still).
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post #13 of 18
2/3/07 at 9:58am
Fans of Monty Python probably know that the group was generally split into two writing groups: John Cleese/Graham Chapman (Cambridge, if memory serves) and Micheal Palin /Terry Jones (Oxford), with Eric Idle and Terry Gilliam acting as free agents. In general they said that the styles were defined by Cleese and Chapman writing humor that could be explained- they could say why it was funny. They did things like the Argument Sketch, or Dead Parrot. (Cheese Shop was actually a Jones/Palin parody of the Cleese/Chapman "list" style sketch.) Jones and Palin often did humor that worked on a gut level. It was just purely silly and either it grabbed you or it left you cold; things like the Knights who say "Ni" or a woman beating a cat against the wall in the back of a scene. As a result, the Palin/Jones material was often hit or miss but when it worked it was just amazingly funny, at least for the right people (Spam!!).

I think ND falls very much into that kind of category, and it sounds like FC does as well. I'll give it a try.
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post #14 of 18
2/4/07 at 11:10am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by FredProgGH View Post

Fans of Monty Python probably know that the group was generally split into two writing groups: John Cleese/Graham Chapman (Cambridge, if memory serves) and Micheal Palin /Terry Jones (Oxford), with Eric Idle and Terry Gilliam acting as free agents. In general they said that the styles were defined by Cleese and Chapman writing humor that could be explained- they could say why it was funny. They did things like the Argument Sketch, or Dead Parrot. (Cheese Shop was actually a Jones/Palin parody of the Cleese/Chapman "list" style sketch.) Jones and Palin often did humor that worked on a gut level. It was just purely silly and either it grabbed you or it left you cold; things like the Knights who say "Ni" or a woman beating a cat against the wall in the back of a scene. As a result, the Palin/Jones material was often hit or miss but when it worked it was just amazingly funny, at least for the right people (Spam!!).

I think ND falls very much into that kind of category, and it sounds like FC does as well. I'll give it a try.

That's true. Part of the reason movies like N Dynamite, Spinal Tap, and to a lesser extent Monty Python don't work for some people is that the comedy is delivered in a deadpan manner. In other words no huge telegraphing of the set up and punch line with slapstick, bug eyes, big reactions etc. It's the situation that's funny whereas the delivery isn't necessarily.

This throws lots of people off, and even more when they're not really paying attention. That said, Puffy Chair was quite a bit less dry and deadpan than Spinal Tap. But I could see where you might even miss that it's supposed to be funny and see it as just a bad low budget indy road trip movie. When you watch this, have your irony sensors in place.

But come on, how could you NOT find parts like this hilarious:
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Spoiler  
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)
Where the guy tries to impress his girlfriend by checking into the hotel as one guest instead of 3 to save $10. He makes his girlfriend change into his clothes and skulk past the managers office while he and his brother sprint in their underwear. When they get asked to leave, he has to bribe the manager with $50 more than they would have had to pay anyway only if they agree to leave first think in the morning. Of course the humiliation is priceless
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post #15 of 18
2/17/07 at 12:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by FredProgGH View Post

As a result, the Palin/Jones material was often hit or miss but when it worked it was just amazingly funny.

Not to veer off the subject of the post too much, but I will say that in general I always liked Palin the best, as far as performance-wise on the show - no matter who actually wrote the sketch. There was never a moment with him in any scene where I didn't find him at the top of his game. Nobody was as continually "on" during every second on-screen as he was, and was as fun to watch (the aforementioned "Dead Parrot" sketch is a perfect example.)
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post #16 of 18
2/17/07 at 11:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by HTCrazy View Post

I remember after Napolean Dynamite came out we had people over to the house that we wanted to expose the movie to. Even some people with a sense of humor similar to mine went away visibly upset at investing the last couple hours of their lives for such a worthless film. If you don't get the irony you don't get the movie - in both cases. You could say the same for Spinal Tap.

I get irony. I just didn't find Napolean Dynamite funny. I love deadpan humor, too, but I didn't find anything particularily funny (the scene in car on the way to the dance was one of few exceptions). I had a friend years ago that could deliver a one liner in such a bland fashion, it was all the more funny not having him crack a smile or emphasize the joke. I appreciate that kind of delivery when done well. This wasn't.

I just don't understand why people thought so highly of ND. I respect the fact that they do, but I don't get the appeal.

Since the comparison was made, I thought "This Is Spinal Tap" was really funny. I enjoyed the whole thing. However, with ND, I kept checking how much was left of it until I could do something else.
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post #17 of 18
2/18/07 at 6:34am
This is playing now on one of the movie channels. I recorded it last night and hope to watch it today or tomorrow.

larry
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post #18 of 18
2/18/07 at 3:00pm
I don't see how you can compare this movie to ND in any aspect. I liked ND, obviously. There's a few funny moments in the "The Puffy Chair", and Rhett is "out there", but the movie didn't have much going for it. The first scene was pretty good but it was all downhill from there. The only reason I kept watching it was to make sure I didn't miss a good part.

larry
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