Movie Review: Hits (2014)

David Cross writes and directs a tale of fame set in the small town of Liberty, NY.  The film shows how the internet can make you famous, even if it wasn't the way you intended for it to happen.

Meredith Hagner plays Katelyn, a nineteen year old girl with a dream to be on the NBC television show, "The Voice."  She feels she has what it takes and is willing to do just about anything to be heard.

Katelyn's father Dave, who is brilliantly played by Matt Walsh, has issues with his city council.  He continues to go to the town halls and is shut down.  This has progressively made him more upset and the videos of his city council outbursts have become mildly popular on YouTube.  This is where Donavan(James Adomian) comes in.  He becomes quite interested in Dave's cause when his drug dealer(Michael Cera) shows Donavan and his wife(Erinn Hayes) the YouTube video.  Donavan, who lives in New York City, and his group of friends are part of an internet group called "Think Tank" and he feels Dave is the perfect subject.

Everything culminates in the small town of Liberty.  Katelyn is looking to record a demo, Dave is becoming more and more popular on the internet, Donavan is surprised by the amount of attention, and there are a lot more characters that have integral parts within this story.

David Cross masterfully weaves all of the characters into this film.  There is a lot going on, but he finds a way to give each character enough screen time so that you are able to keep up with this interweaving tale.  There are also characters who may play small roles but had me laughing out loud.  Derek Waters was remarkably funny in his role as the awkward and always hungry Larson.

Those that are looking for fame do find it.  It just doesn't come the way they might have thought it would.

I'm giving "Hits" three out of five Pile Drivers.  Definitely worth watching if you like a tragic comedy.

You can read more of my reviews here on Cinema Head Cheese and also please check out my blogs, reviews and podcasts on http://maskerpiecetheatre.blogspot.com/

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This review came from one of my earlier Cinema Head Cheese blogs.

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Entertainment Review: w/ Bob & David - Netflix (2015)

Netflix has added to their original content a new sketch comedy from comedians Bob Odenkirk and David Cross.  Many people remember that the duo had a sketch comedy program on HBO called "Mr. Show With Bob & David."  Now with the new show, "w/ Bob & David," we have a new opportunity to see what they've come up with sixteen years later.

"w/ Bob & David" is a different type of sketch comedy as it feels there is a lot of care put into these four episodes.  The characters feel well thought out and the sketches go long enough to not just make you laugh, but also to make sense of why you will laugh at certain characters or even feel bad for them - the "Court" sketch and the "Salesman" sketch are great examples.

Odenkirk, Cross and company are not the types to shy away from controversial clips.  The threat of a picture of the prophet Mohammed, unexpected people in Heaven and the use of the word "cunt" to save lives are small examples of what can be seen within the four episodes of "w/ Bob & David."  Religion has a running theme as you see a Jewish Pope and find out "Heaven is Totes for Realz."

There is a fifth episode which is a behind the scenes look at what went into the making of "w/ Bob & David."  This is a really cool look at what goes into making a sketch comedy program.

"w/ Bob & David" is excellent!  I'm definitely going to watch it again and I'm sure I'll catch parts that I didn't hear the first time because I was laughing so much.  It's fantastic to see Odenkirk and Cross working together and I hope there will be more episodes in the future.

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