How Dare You Not Be Charmed By Judd Apatow’s Publicity Tour?!
In the waning days of his publicity blitz, Judd Apatow is blogging over at MTV in some kind of meta ‘comedians-are- sensitive-beings-who-have-Google-alerts-and-read-them’ promotion for Funny People. It’s quite enjoyable!
We must admire the inexhaustible hustle of Apatow’s publicist: Judd has been everywhere. And Apatow has aced the exposure due in large part to his own obsessions and personality quirks: that typical brand of Choosen People wang/ anxiety humour, the refractory wisdom about the emotional depth of his characters, constant self-deprecation, steady fear of failure, a sincere need to please, a graceful acknowledgment of misfires, and flirty sweet things about his comdienne wife Leslie Mann.
Today Apatow did one of his final PR stints as a guestblogger over at MTV. He has been filing weekly musings over at MTV and all of the same Apatowian themes have emerged . Here are some highlights from his last post.
Oh Judd! We forgive you for Walk Hard:
There is nothing worse than making a bad movie and knowing it is going to be broadcast on cable TV for the rest of time. I am actually a fan of mediocre comedies. They are like warm soup. They can be pleasant and help time go by more easily when you just want to shut off your brain. When I make a bad movie I often try to make myself feel better by saying, “well, that is a good movie to watch if you are home with the flu.” Believe me, when you have the flu it is still hard to find enough movies to fill a day, even if you have seven hundred channels.
Judd has feeeeelingsss!:
“Funny People” is very personal to me. It is really funny, but is also about a lot of life and death issues. People seem to project their view of life onto it. Dark people find it really dark. Happy hopeful people think it is sweet and positive. I have never had an experience like this before. Usually people just laugh and that is it. They ponder it for too long. I read one hilarious super-nasty article about me that said I was a misanthrope (you can look it up too) and then another that said I was conservative and syrupy sweet.
So I guess this will be a movie that will start many long conversations. That was the point when I wrote it but watching those conversations about to begin is scary.”
Whose side are you on?:
How many times should I see “Funny People”?
Three. Once for the laughs. The second time to notice the details you missed when you laughed. And the third time just to make sure we beat “Transformers” at the box office. We must not let robots rule the world.
Judd wrote his final entry today in some sort of jazzy, improvisational, warrior poet way:
“Funny People” opens this Friday.
Looks good.
Reviews are solid.
Some raves. New Yorker. Rolling Stone.
A few didn’t quite get it.
Their hearts are cold and dark.
I pray for them.
Leslie is funnier than me on talk shows.
Why? Why?
Doing The View tomorrow with Seth.
Not sure if you can discuss penises.
Isn’t that the subtext of the entire show?
Doing Howard Stern.
Not sure I have enough penis material.
…Might slip and tell dirty stories about Leslie.
Don’t take sleeping pill.
Think about other things.
Movie is not that important.
New season of Mad Man is starting soon.
Happiness.
Zzzzzzzz”
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Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)
@Dave J.: That's EXACTLY what I was thinking of when I mentioned 40YOV above. That was my favorite line.
noonecaresowen
@MrsButterworth: "Let's get some fuckin' french toast" is still a classic, and I will love her forever for saying it.
@Muggs Bigglesworth: From everything I've heard, the character of Randy has like two lines in the actual movie! Tragic!!
magnets
@MrsButterworth: Agree. Even with a funny script not every actor is funny--sometimes they even suck the life out of material. I hate nepotism, but Mann always proves herself and is a legitimately funny, talented actress. She nails it.
NigelAstydameia
There is something really weird going on here with Leslie Mann, her daughter, and Zac with the little boy hairdo (she is kinda funny nearly unscripted).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TDMoj0LQfI
@Cheap Shot:
Oh it wasn't bad! It just wasn't typical Apatow brillz, ya know. But I still quote the chainsaw scene!
@magnets:
Do not fear the beard. Give in to Apatow, I have. The water's fine.
@Spirit Fingers:
OOoo yes! The Shymalan effect! It's true. Why did no one grab M. Knight and say "Hey! There are sea-people in your movie, getagrip!" The Happening is only redeemable on the campy level.
@Natasha VC:
Well I think your work is the bees knees. (No clue who Judd Aptow might be, but he seems very nice)
@NigelAstydameia:
Mr. Larry Sanders has a pretty great cameo in 'Iron Man 2'. I saw the clip and I missed him.
@Wrapitup:
Awww! 'Lucky Wives Club'? that's mean! So in LM's defense and my own, I think she has really great timing and phrasing. She rarely goes for the obvious or screechy gag. I thought her and Rudd were the best part of 'Knocked Up'. Serious!
@Wrapitup: Wow. You are just really, really wrong. "Lucky wives club?" Ugh. If you want to point out the difference between a STAND UP comedian and a comedic actor, fine, but I think "comedienne" is completely right.
Her performance in 40 Year Old Virgin MADE those lines funny, not the other way around.
@Wrapitup: I think it's appropriate to label someone who mostly acts in comedies a comedienne. It's not just for those who started out as live acts. What's a better alternative, comedic actress?
I personally thought she was the funniest part of 40 Year-Old Virgin.
noonecaresowen
@NigelAstydameia: I love you for that "cures for cancer" line. Perfect.
@Muggs Bigglesworth: It is, and I can't believe they're not promoting it more in the trailers and ads. I saw an extended clip at a UCB show in LA a month ago and it was a riot. All hail Aziz!
noonecaresowen
@PootyT: No, it was brilliant and to HELL WITH THIS DAMN POST! I will never be ashamed of loving that movie. It was the most underrated movie in my recent memory.
@Spirit Fingers: I wish I could promote your comment. That third sentence needs to be framed and nailed to the wall of every artist and businessperson in America. It says more about the need for dissent in projects than most management textbooks ever could.
Natasha, I think describing Leslie Mann as a 'comedienne' is being way too complimentary. She merely specializes in acting in funny films that are produced by her husband where she says lines written by Seth Rogen and her husband. It's not hard to be funny when someone else has done most of the difficult work for you.
Most male and female comedians spend at least a few grueling years agonizing over and writing material and then having to perform it in seedy stand-up venues or with very selective comedy troupes. If they're lucky enough to get their own TV shows or star in movies, they still have the shared burden of coming up with the jokes. I think calling someone a comedian/enne is something that must be earned. Leslie Mann is just a member of the lucky wives club.
I forgot he had to do with the near-perfect Larry Sanders show until I caught him on "Inside the Actors Studio" the other night, one of the strangest shows on TV. Lipton rattles off film titles, "Knocked Up," "Forgetting Sarah Marshall..." like they're cures for cancer. I think Apatow is at least self-aware enough to be uncomfortable.
NigelAstydameia
@StanGable: Forgetting Sarah Marshall was kind of a shit sandwich but to be fair I think that was a paycheck-collecting project which involved one of his special foster children carving out a space in the world. Knocked Up you can hold the guy fully responsible for, and yeah, that one did leave kind of a bad taste in my mouth
magnets
@Natasha VC: Thanks Natasha! I'm on your side, trust me! I look to Defamer to give me the pop culture editorials and hidden nuggets that make life in Hollywood bearable! Here's to hoping for some more of the "I'm gonna forward this awesomeness to a friend" material like video clips, clever cross references, and straight up nasty dirt sans Defamer 2008! Good Luck!
taco-flavored-kisses
@PootyT:
Explain yourself!
@Uncle_Billy_Slumming:
There is some (really talented) staff on the way to get out more content faster! Right now it's just lil' old me in the (cyber simulated) glitter trenches. I work over at E! Online too and they have a lot of staff. Defamer is getting there.
For now it's a quality over quantity but, but you know, tough stuff. But I'm glad you're digging what we got! :)
@PootyT: No Pooty, I'll go down that road with ya. I saw it "by accident " one night flipping through the channels and landed in the "Duet" scene- high-larious! Also, I love Tim Meadows. One other thing that film has going for it, John C. Reilly sans Will Farrell...finally!
As for Apatow, how much further can he stretch it? Let's see, got all my friends, my wife, my kids in my movies...uh, where's the dog? When you surround yourself like that at what point is your reality skewed?
The spoiled man-child unwillingly dragged into adulthood by an accomplished woman who ought to be spending her time more wisely is a meme that has to die. In art and in life.
City_Dater
From everything I've heard, the character of Randy is worth the ticket price all by itself.
Muggs Bigglesworth
I think he needs to be careful. There is a such thing as the Shyamalan effect. Where you internalize your movies sooo much that you can't see past the vision, to the lunacy, and the overall major suckage, and so you lose that thing that made you unique, cool, and irreverent. And at the point you're making movies about make believe, stupid, villages that lie about the year, and sea-people or some such that confound Paul Giamatti, who got in on the wave wayyyy too late. (I'm also looking at you Wahlberg. The Happening! Yeah, the happening of the suck-ass confirmation.)
So yeah, Apatow. Don't do that. Don't be Prince in Purple Rain.
Spirit Fingers
I am torn btwn identifying with and disliking him, cos facial hair isn't the only thing that weighs heavier on a female vs. male clueless schmuck
magnets
I loathe most of this man's films but find his riffs amusing and appealing. If he really does want to make the world a better place, he should just Twitter, 24/7.
After the drastically overrated Knocked up, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, etc. its amazing to go back and see the brilliant work he did on The Larry Sanders Show
@taco-flavored-kisses:
Segunded. Mas!
Disclaimer: {This is not in response to this article or Natasha's writing, which I enjoy very much!}....
...But WTF is up with Defamer these days? Short staffed? There is like an epoch between each of the 7 or so posts that come up per day, half of which are ganked from Jezebel. C'mon...if Eonline can post 25 PR friendly items per day, surely you can find a bit more to discuss? Starting to remember again why I left Defamer for 6 months earlier this year...
taco-flavored-kisses
am i the only one who loves walk hard? yes? ok.