Half of the time we're gone but we don't know where

So, what was the big deal with the movie Napoleon Dynamite?

It struck me as just a rip-off of a Wes Anderson film. Or better yet, if Rushmore and Superstar had a baby, it would be this movie, except not in a good way. How about, if DNA merged from Rushmore and Superstar was cloned and it didn't quite turn out right, it would be this movie. I don't think I hated it as much as dommeyourass did (I laughed sveral times, I don't think she laughed at all). But there wasn't much redeeming about any character -- it lacked a certain poignancy I think the subject-matter needed. And a plot.

When I got obsessed with The Postal Service last summer, I downloaded everything I could find. And one of my favorite songs was Such Great Heights. And I downloaded what I thought was just an acoustic version of the song, but it turned out to be a cover by the darling band Iron & Wine. Ok, cool, I can dig it. In the past few weeks, there have been references to this song ALL over livejournal. And now I know why. Garden State came out on DVD.

Today, as part-two of the hipster double feature, we watched this movie. I was a little hesitant at first, in part because so many people around me loved it and it got built up. Especially after the experience with Napoleon Dynamite (save for mintwaster and cocolola, who I believe left the theater before it ended?) Anyway, yeah, the soundtrack is good, but this is because the soundtrack is every song I'm already listening to, so this is pretty neutral fact for me. It almost made me NOT like the movie, actually. I know, I'm weird about music, if by weird I mean picky, and I guess I just hate when film directors use songs in lieu of actual dialogue, scenes, acting. [e.g. most any use of Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah in any television show ever.] In my opinion, Zach Braff kind of hovered near that line, never crossing it, or at least not for too long, but I was still overly aware for the music at all times. It didn't seem to be built into the narrative as tightly as I like, but then again, first time director and this has a hint of a vanity project. The movie wasn't "a film for my generation" or whatever the tagline is, and at times I found it to be contrived.

But damn, if I wasn't crying like a baby at the end. Ok, ok, you got me. Despite the flaws I just laid into, it was pretty well acted and written.

So in the end, neither film completely lived up to the hype, but at least I didn't want my money back with one of them.