"I don't know if we should... air this one."

July 29, 2010 7:57 PM

Between Two Ferns ep. 9: Steve Carell sits down to talk with Zach Galifianakis about "Dinner for Schmucks" but they never quite get around to it. (Previously. nsfw language.) [via]
posted by Hardcore Poser (57 comments total)

Eventually these will get old. But not yet.
posted by kbanas at 7:58 PM on July 29, 2010

To clarify, all of the interview in the between two ferns series are scripted, right?
posted by resiny at 8:17 PM on July 29, 2010

@resiny I believe they're directed by Scott Aukerman and B.J. Porter (of Comedy Death-Ray and other good things) but only "assist" otherwise by the pair because how could they both be writers in such an absolutely 100% unscripted interview show?

(yes)
posted by Doug Stewart at 8:33 PM on July 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

I meant assisted, naturally.
posted by Doug Stewart at 8:34 PM on July 29, 2010

love steve's face after the shark comment.
posted by leotrotsky at 8:41 PM on July 29, 2010

Steve Carell lives in some odd media zone where we all love him despite his awful, awful movies. Like his co-star in Date Night Tina Fey, we just accept they are people who are Great On TV and We Like Them but who make Terrible, Terrible Movies.
posted by The Whelk at 8:50 PM on July 29, 2010 [6 favorites]

@The Whelk

I watched Get Smart again recently. It was pretty amusing. And Despicable Me was definitely not bad.
posted by HostBryan at 8:52 PM on July 29, 2010 [2 favorites]

You take that back, The Whelk. The 40 Year Old Virgin is comedic genius.
posted by letitrain at 8:52 PM on July 29, 2010 [7 favorites]

Despicable Me was a rather good surprise actually.
posted by McSly at 9:00 PM on July 29, 2010

Evan Almighty I rest my case.
posted by The Whelk at 9:00 PM on July 29, 2010

Well, maybe it's Zach G. who's in bad movies. The Hangover was a waste of my time. I now use it as a litmus test to gauge a critic's sense of humor.
posted by intermod at 9:02 PM on July 29, 2010

Gold. Absolute Gold.
posted by awfurby at 9:06 PM on July 29, 2010

These are two inherently funny people. The jokes in this segment were not.
posted by greasy_skillet at 9:07 PM on July 29, 2010

The Hangover was a waste of my time.

I don't know if Galifianakis was all that great in The Hangover and his character wasn't much to work with, but holy shit I don't think I have ever laughed as hard at a movie as I did there. It may be stupid, but it's funny.
posted by GuyZero at 9:08 PM on July 29, 2010 [2 favorites]

Hangover was a lot better than i expected, but I didn't expect it to be very good.
posted by empath at 9:11 PM on July 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

I thought The Hangover was pretty amusing, actually. My wife, who I would say has a sense of humor exactly the opposite of mine in most situations, thought it was funny as well.
posted by maxwelton at 9:12 PM on July 29, 2010

letitrain: You take that back, The Whelk. The 40 Year Old Virgin is comedic genius.

Yeah, take it back Mr The Whelk, Little Miss Sunshine was also comedic genius. It was even more than comedic genius, it was comedic genius orgy of nuclear orgasmic hilarity....
posted by Skygazer at 9:18 PM on July 29, 2010 [2 favorites]

I haven't seen The Hangover, but Bored to Death is one of the best things to come out of the US in a while. And Between Two Ferns had me in hysterics when I watched the first eight. Thank you for alerting me to the ninth!
posted by Wataki at 9:20 PM on July 29, 2010

Zach G. is also a comedic genius orgy btw.
posted by Skygazer at 9:21 PM on July 29, 2010

It may be stupid, but it's funny.

I think The Hangover is easy to dismiss because of its inane, dudebro premise but like many of these Apatow-themed-if-not-created movies, the dialogue was tight, the timing was great, and the plot threw great hooks left and right. Think of it as a playful mystery/suspense thriller and it shines a bit more brightly.
posted by dubusadus at 9:21 PM on July 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

Zack Galifinakis' Absolut vodka "commercials" are the funniest "commercials" ever. Ever ever.
posted by zardoz at 9:34 PM on July 29, 2010 [4 favorites]

but Bored to Death is one of the best things to come out of the US in a while.

I'm kind of in Bored To Death!

SO THERE

I did not enjoy The Hangover but that could been from the lady next to me explaining every joke "Oh cause it's a tiger!" yes, thank you ms, I would not have gotten the subtle underpinning without you. Thank you. you are a public service
posted by The Whelk at 9:39 PM on July 29, 2010

Evan Almighty I rest my case.

Achorman: The legend of Ron Burgundy case rested. Actually no, Dan in Real Life is a great movie and I believe you would unrest your case if you saw it.
posted by P.o.B. at 9:40 PM on July 29, 2010

by in it I mean my book appears in the background for a half-second
posted by The Whelk at 9:40 PM on July 29, 2010

I also did not like Little Miss Sunshine so...I'll see myself out.
posted by The Whelk at 9:41 PM on July 29, 2010

Ever since it came out, people have been bugging me about never having seen The 40 Year Old Virgin. So I finally watched it the other night, and found it to be a wandering, aimless mess of a movie. I maybe chuckled a few times but that was it, with the exception of the scene early on where he's trying to avoid any connotation to sex and winds up running from the bus with the 'Eruption' ad on the side ... yeah that part had me LOL'ing ... but that's about it.

The Hangover, on the other hand, was one of the funniest films I've seen in years. And yeah, I typically hate dude-bro movies as well, but the writing and comic timing of that one was dead on.

I would probably say that Little Miss Sunshine was the only Carrell movie I've ever enjoyed. But he wasn't the main focus there and I'd actually forgotten he was in it until this thread. Mildly intrigued by the Shmucks movie, though I'll probably wait until it gets released on DVD.
posted by mannequito at 9:41 PM on July 29, 2010

Best episode of Between Two Ferns, in my opinion. Charlize Theron is great.
posted by joeyjoejoejr at 9:44 PM on July 29, 2010 [2 favorites]

I'm not saying I don't LIKE Steve Carrell, i Do! He has an ambient field of Likability that seems to overpower the fact that I don't really like this movies but I really like his TV work. I was just wondering if this was a shared feeling or if I can go be off in my own private Opinion Dome. I like the Opinion Dome! It always agrees with me!
posted by The Whelk at 9:47 PM on July 29, 2010

The funniest stuff I've seen Galifinakis is on Funny or Die. There was a Will Ferrell tour with a bunch of people including Will Arnett, Nick Swardson, and Galifinakis. They posted a bunch of outtakes on FoD and If you get the chance check them out. The Ass n' Balls show is gut bustin' funny!
posted by P.o.B. at 9:50 PM on July 29, 2010

You may have found [name of movie] funny, but I did not find it funny. On the other hand, I found [name of another movie] funny, although you may not have.

Also, you may find [name of person] funny, but I think they're pretty damn unfunny compared to [name of other person]. On the other hand, [name of third person] is so funny that my [body part] nearly [violent act that does not typically happen to a body part] when I saw [name of third person] in [name of yet another movie].

I like to participate
posted by davejay at 9:55 PM on July 29, 2010 [20 favorites]

davejay (is/is not) funny.

Please choose only one.
posted by Bonzai at 9:57 PM on July 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

*writes in, than circles maybe*
posted by P.o.B. at 10:04 PM on July 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

I liked The Dinner Game a lot (okay, yeah, le dîner de cons), so I guess I'll see Schmucks, even if remakes often suck. Plus it has Jemaine from flight of the Conchords who let's face it is the funnier one. The French movie has a pretty funny opening song that uses and rhymes con about a million times. "Dinner game," yeah right.
posted by fleacircus at 10:04 PM on July 29, 2010 [2 favorites]

Seconding the Charlize Theron 'Between Two Ferns' as the best one. She 100% nails it.
posted by AzzaMcKazza at 10:11 PM on July 29, 2010

I find Carell and Galifianakis great in small doses. Stuff like this, and Carell's appearance on Colbert are just the right size.

I also love Galifianakis' standup. The other night I watched Galifianakis' Live at the Purple Onion on Netflix laugh out loud funny in parts. It came out in 2006 and was recorded in 2005 before he became "that guy from The Hangover."
posted by birdherder at 10:35 PM on July 29, 2010

Seconding the Charlize Theron 'Between Two Ferns' as the best one. She 100% nails it.

She sorta short circuits his brain. Brilliant, funny woman seems like.

Check out the Michael Cera one.
posted by Skygazer at 12:19 AM on July 30, 2010

BTW, for those who didn't like The 40 Year Old Virgin, if you're anywhere over 30 or near 40 and you're still a virgin, that probably explains why you didn't like it.




Zing!


*Takes a bow. Exits.*
posted by Skygazer at 12:25 AM on July 30, 2010

Did you guys see the Garfield movie? He's like, wearing sunglasses. And he's eating lasagna, and Odie's up to his old tricks!
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 3:50 AM on July 30, 2010 [2 favorites]

Add me to the list of people who thought the Hangover was way better than expected. A friend sent me it and insisted I watch it, and, totally expecting another Apatow movie, was pleasantly surprised. It also kicked off my appreciation for Galifianakis. I don't know what it is, but my default response to him is to laugh. He seems to be able to say just about anything and it'll amuse me, hence I was really pleased to see him in Bored to Death.

And nthing the Theron Between Two Ferns being the best. I had no time for her at all until I saw that.
posted by opsin at 5:09 AM on July 30, 2010

Yeah the Theron one was incredible. They keep taking you one more level down until you don't know what is real and what isn't and then she pisses herself. That's entertainment.
posted by ND¢ at 5:52 AM on July 30, 2010

I no time for Zach until I saw Charlize Theron.
posted by cavalier at 5:53 AM on July 30, 2010

ZACH STOLE MY 'HAD'!
posted by cavalier at 5:53 AM on July 30, 2010

I LOVE LAMP!
posted by grapefruitmoon at 6:16 AM on July 30, 2010

Seconding the recommendation of The Dinner Game. I like Zach Galifianakis a lot (an easy test of whether you'd like him is if this version of "Can't Tell Me Nothing" makes you laugh) and loved The Hangover, but I'd like to warn him away from the Apatow universe. Hell, I loved Apatow at one point, and all the folks from Freaks & Geeks and that college show, etc and I understand a man's gotta eat, so I don't begrudge them any of their success.

But. We're long since past the point where they're allowed to do anything and a certain segment of the hoi polloi show up and laugh because of The Emperor's New Clothes effect. Ad this certain segment is sizable enough that it has become A Very Important Demographic. And it's killing me. You can have all the Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, American Idol whatever you want. I can avoid that without a problem. But this Apatow crew has become a black hole that sucks in every halfway funny actor and threatens to kill off the idea of a decent mainstream comedy movie for the next 5 or 10 years. Not that we haven't had comedy droughts in the US movies (I call the last one "The 1990s"), but it's a weird and sad thing to see a bunch of funny and smart people fall victim to the same old trap of reading your own press and replacing whatever your original goals were with money as a measure of success.
posted by yerfatma at 6:17 AM on July 30, 2010 [1 favorite]

Wow, the Charlize Theron skit was absolutely hilarious. She's so good in that.
posted by ob at 6:54 AM on July 30, 2010

but I'd like to warn him away from the Apatow universe.

God yes. I even avoided Freaks and Geeks for a while of knowing about it, because I knew the movies Apatow was responsible for. Ended up with my brother passing me it to watch and loved it, but that just left me wondering what the hell went wrong? It's like he had a sense-of-humourectomy after Freaks and Geeks got canned (well, I guess I would have, knowing you got everything about as right as can be and then... Ugh, networks.)
posted by opsin at 6:59 AM on July 30, 2010

I would, admittedly, watch Jon Hamm interview a fern, but this is just amazing.

Is your middle name honeybaked?
posted by grapefruitmoon at 7:00 AM on July 30, 2010

After reading some reviews for Dinner for Schmucks, it's probably best that they didn't talk about the movie.
posted by HumanComplex at 7:30 AM on July 30, 2010

I even avoided Freaks and Geeks for a while of knowing about it, because I knew the movies Apatow was responsible for. Ended up with my brother passing me it to watch and loved it, but that just left me wondering what the hell went wrong?

opsin: Freaks and Geeks was a collaboration between Apatow and a guy named Paul Feig. The characters, milieu, and much of the comic material came from Feig, based on actual events from his life. He wrote a couple of very funny books about his nerdy teenage years, Kick Me and Superstud: Or How I Became a 24 Year-Old Virgin, which you would probably enjoy.

Apatow has produced some great work (The Larry Sanders Show, The Ben Stiller Show), but Freaks and Geeks was, more or less, Feig's baby.
posted by Atom Eyes at 9:25 AM on July 30, 2010 [1 favorite]

I can't watch Galifianakis. I can't not watch Galifianakis.

"I'm allergic to ferns."
posted by DU at 10:27 AM on July 30, 2010

Between Two Ferns is usually pretty good, but for it to work, it can't seem like Zach and his guest are cooperating or even playing the same game.
posted by clockzero at 10:46 AM on July 30, 2010

The Hangover was a waste of my time. I now use it as a litmus test to gauge a critic's sense of humor.

And ... you have just failed that test.
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:34 AM on July 30, 2010

"That's the sound of a cricket . . . riding a tumbleweed."

Awesome.
posted by gompa at 11:59 AM on July 30, 2010

Oh man, I really had a hard time watching this here at work. My co-workers probably think I'm choking to death in my cubicle.
posted by The Lurkers Support Me in Email at 1:14 PM on July 30, 2010

I would, admittedly, watch Jon Hamm interview a fern, but this is just amazing.

What's odd about this is today I listened to an episode of Doug Loves Movies and Hamm was a guest and at one point he said, "I once lost a poker pot so big to Doug (the host) that I violently fingered him." It was pretty funny. And then fingering gets mentioned on this Fern show.

And yes, Carrell is particularly unfunny. I want him to go away but he won't because the virgin movie made mad cash.
posted by dobbs at 6:27 PM on July 30, 2010

Birdherder: The other night I watched Galifianakis' Live at the Purple Onion on Netflix laugh out loud funny in parts. It came out in 2006 and was recorded in 2005 before he became "that guy from The Hangover."

Hey I watched this on your recommendation last night and it was indeed very good. His improvisation is so cutting and hilarious, especially when he finds a good victim in the audience.

After a while, I noticed the one liners getting tedious and I was wondering way, when each one is so good and I think it's because there's no sense of an arc or nuance in the material. I mean, although he's constantly dissing himself for being fat and this and that, he never really puts himself out there and exposes himself in a way that takes a risk and demands a certain elevation or communion from the audience, the way a Pryor or Hicks would, basically at one point or another saying "look, this is who I am, ugly and funny as it is, but I dare you not to see yourself somewhere in here."

Seems Galifinakis uses his material more as a way to keep people at a certain distance, he's definitely taking a chance with the improvisational audience stuff, doing a coupla acrobatics but, it's never his ass on the line. It's someone else's.

So every joke is at the same timbre and has the same rhythm and it begins to get a numbing. It's hard to blame him thought for the sort of humor that is "too cool" to really ever take a chance, it's sorta a interwebs snark culture vibe that he's got going and hell, maybe that's good enough, I don't know. Maybe everyone can't be as sensitive, empathic and great and put their soul into the material the way a Pryor or Hicks could, and that's why they were great.

He's fairly young though and he's still sorta building his persona, and it works brilliantly in "Between Two Ferns." Maybe he's just more suited for movies in a way that Pryor or Hicks never could be because they were such creatively unique performers, so maybe he's more of an actor, don't know, but I've expected big things from Zach G., probably cos I miss Pryor and Hicks so much, but now that I saw that routine at the Purple Onion from 2005, I'm thinking he might not be the one for that heady mantle...
posted by Skygazer at 9:11 PM on July 30, 2010 [1 favorite]

Skygazer: The best parts of the Purple Onion DVD are the extras, particularly the sit-down bits with "journalist" Brian Unger, in which Zach does the entire interview in-character as his beardless, effeminate southern brother Seth. So good.
posted by Atom Eyes at 8:32 AM on August 3, 2010