NOOOOvember 2014: Cinema Parrot Disco

Well, we’ve made it to the middle of the work week, and I certainly hope it hasn’t been a disappointing week for you, friends. Unless we’re talking about NOOOOvember, in which case I hope you’ve been enjoying disappointments galore. Or, you know, at least enjoying reading about them. You know what I mean. Today I have another glorious guest for you: Table9Mutant of Cinema Parrot Disco! Mutant was actually one of my participants in last year’s NOOOOvember, and I’m absolutely thrilled that she’s stuck long enough to come back for more. Thanks for your continued awesomeness, Mutant!!! Anyway, let’s allow the lady to vent, shall we?

In A World… (2013)

Directed by Lake Bell

Starring:
Lake Bell
Demetri Martin
Fred Melamed
Rob Corddry
Michaela Watkins
Ken Marino
Nick Offerman
Tig Notaro

Plot Synopsis: (via Wikipedia)
In a World… is a 2013 American comedy film written, directed and co-produced by Lake Bell. The film stars Bell as Carol Solomon, a vocal coach intent on doing voice-over work for film trailers.

My Opinion:

This is pretty much just a movie full of wankers.

First of all, let me say that I’m cheating ever so slightly like I did with my entry for Nooovember last year (Lockout). I watch a lot of movies in a year & fall way behind on reviews then do my best to catch up before the end of the year so, again, I’m writing about the most disappointing movie I’ve seen just in 2014. It’s not like I thought this would be the best movie EVER but I loved the idea of the story and was really looking forward to it after reading a lot of positive reviews. I saw several movies worse than this one but I kind of expected those to suck anyway. (I’m happy to say that, this year, most the movies I’ve watched have met or even exceeded my expectations! Yay!)

So, back to the wankers in In A World… By the way, this review will have some SPOILERS so I can explain why I hated these characters. This was written by, directed by, and starring Lake Bell. Who IS Lake Bell? I’ve noticed some people mention her on their lists of “annoying actresses” but I don’t think I’ve ever really seen her in anything else. Based on this, I suppose I’m not a fan either. Her character isn’t the MOST annoying here (that honor would probably go to her dad or the other guy wanting to win the voice-over job) but she’s certainly an unlikable idiot who does stupid things (like casually sleep with that annoying prick of a guy I just mentioned immediately after meeting him, even though he’s such an obvious douchebag). Oh – let’s go into the story a bit first…

I always like movies that are about movies in some way, whether they’re about making them or they’re simply set in a movie theater. In A World… is about Lake Bell’s vocal coach character and her father Sam (played by Fred Melamed), who is very famous for providing the voice-over for movie trailers. A voice is needed for a big new movie trailer that plans to bring back the “In a world…” line made so famous by real-life voice actor Don LaFontaine. Sam would like his friend & protégé Gustav (played by Ken Marino) to get the job but when he doesn’t show up due to being ill, Lake Bell’s character is asked to record a temporary voice-over for the trailer. All hell then breaks loose when the producer hears it & wants to hire Bell’s character for the job instead.

I think this movie was trying to make some sort of point about women trying to make it in a “man’s world”. I mean, really – why aren’t women’s voices ever used for movie trailers? The movie doesn’t really explore the issue at all, though, and we’re instead left watching a bunch of people being mean to each other for an hour and a half. The father (who must be the hairiest man alive after Dan Hedaya) eventually finds out that it’s his own daughter who’s up for the new trailer job and he’s SUCH an asshole about it. He decides to go after the job himself as, I guess, he doesn’t want to see his daughter get the job that he didn’t originally want anyway. I mean, what the hell? How shitty is that?! He’d wanted his male buddy to get the job – why wouldn’t a father want his daughter to follow in his footsteps? It made no sense to me. Because he’s sexist? Are men actually still capable of being sexist after they have a daughter? He should have been really proud of her! Here he is in the most-naked still of him that I was able to find…

Then there were a load of other completely pointless stories going on throughout the film, which made the whole thing a confusing mess. Lake Bell’s sister cheats on her hubby (I think?) so we had their relationship drama, the father moves his 30-year-old girlfriend into his house so he kicks out his 30-something daughter Bell who still lives with him because she’s totally useless, Bell sleeps with the arrogant voice actor buddy of her father (not knowing they’re friends since she’s only just met him TWO SECONDS ago), and the whole time Bell’s good friend is totally in love with her and she’s too self-absorbed to realize it. That’s what I hated the most – all these characters are so completely self-absorbed. I can’t STAND people like that in real life so I don’t want to spend my time watching a movie full of people like that. So we have a really interesting idea for a movie but then we get a bunch of self-absorbed idiots & a messy story that never explores the issues of sexism that are raised. We also don’t get any kind of interesting behind the scenes look into the making of movie trailers. I’d actually far rather just watch a documentary on Don LaFontaine than see a bunch of privileged assholes moping about their lives. No, In A World… certainly isn’t the worst movie ever so I can’t give it TOO low of a score but it just felt like such a hugely wasted opportunity. It’s a better film than Lockout but I actually hated it more. At least Lockout was so ridiculous it was almost fun.

My Rating: 5/10

RECOVERY MOVIE: Are we choosing a recovery movie again this year? Well, I’d recommend a different film that was written by, directed by, and starring the same person. My favorite person to do this a lot would be Charlie Chaplin so I’d say to watch either Modern Times or City Lights. But if silent movies really aren’t your thing, I’d suggest Mel Brooks & Spaceballs. 🙂

I love that some of you guys are doing recovery films! Honestly, I’d totally forgotten that I did that last year, but I really need to revive that. We all need a recovery film after such horrible disappointments. Nice work, Mutant!!!! I’ll have something else NOOOOvember-related for you fine folks tomorrow. See you then! 🙂