Really?!?! When I first heard about that movie it sounded like it would be fun, but the scenes I've seen all looked terrible. Between that and the reviews I decided to just steer clear. And now you say thumbs up, which makes me have to rethink it. I'm not looking for great cinema in this kind of movie - just a whole bunch of laughs. I don't even care of it's cerebral laughs or insanely dumb and goofy shit - I just want my comedies to be funny.

What did you like about it? Anything in particular? At best I thought it would be a horrible movie with just a few funny bits. Was it funny throughout? I'd really like a reason to add it to my "see list".

It's one of the kindest, sweetest, and GOOFIEST movies ever made. You have to let it exist in it's own way, it's kind of strange and languid.

But it's just fantastic. It's funny, and Jack Black does his thing in it, but I really liked it.

If you like Wes Anderson movies, you'll like this, I bet.

Yeah, from the previews, I thought it looked like a stupid Jack Black-centric fraternity romp that I could live without. But it's the opposite. The movie has real heart, and is incredibly quirky. The community depicted (Passaic, NJ) is totally believable and the message is really sweet. Definitely a fun thing to watch.

Haven't seen it yet, but I'm keen to see anything by Michel Gondry. I really liked Human Nature (despite some flaws, it's a crazily inventive film), and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind knocked me out. It sounds like he's done it again, just as I hoped.

OK so I did not see it based on the trailers but LT and Miko like it so maybe I should but then "If you like Wes Anderson movies, you'll like this, I bet" and I really dislike Wes Anderson movies so what to do?

It's great. Weird, rambly, sort of two or three different movies jammed together tonally, but sweet and fun and very Gondry. Just really, really suspend disbelief. Better: reject the notion of NEEDING to suspend it. Aim for goofy outright.

I'm not sure I'd make the Wes Anderson comparison. I like his stuff a lot, and I liked this a lot, but there's not a lot of overlap for me personally.

And Eternal Sunshine is a totally different movie. A much better one, as storytelling and overall coherence goes. Both are totally great, though.

It wasn't great, but I enjoyed it. Fun, with a touch of heart, though the large helping of quirkiness might be a dealbreaker for some. Via did not share my opinion, but she also disliked Shaun of the Dead.

I made the Wes Anderson comparison based on the fact that his movies and Be Kind, Rewind have a kind of love for their characters - there's not a really bad person in these movies.

Rewind is really a mess in a lot of ways - there are ludicrous plot contrivances, and very loose pacing in parts, but somehow it never loses sight of the world it creates. I mean, this movie takes place entirely in a junkyard in Passaic, NJ for chrissakes - not exactly the most engaging of locations. BUT IT WORKS!

You really care about the people in the film, you laugh with them in a quixotic way, and there's a goofy likability to the stuff Gondry throws in, even though it wrecks the movie if you can't suspend your disbelief.

Eternal Sunshine is one of my all-time favorite films, I think I raved about it here once also. I have to remember this Michel Gondry guy - he's definitely the real deal. Total safe bet for my movie dollar.

Hey LT, have you seen The Science of Sleep yet? It has the same feel as Eternal Sunshine, except it's sort of fantastical in a different way. It was incredibly moving and hard to let go of, after it ended. It's sort of Gondry's specialty, I suppose.

I would argue that Wes Anderson has more of a fetishism for his characters. I liked Bottle Rocket, but after that they just seemed to get too cutesy and twee. The Royal Tennenbaums didn't really have any likeable characters for me. But Wes seems to think: "See? Aren't these characters WONDERFUL? See how quirky they are, and how tense their interactions are?" You can tell he loves them, but he can't tell you why, though he's sure you'll love them too. It's like a friend who insists you will love his other friends, but when you meet them, they're just a bunch of whiny, entitled twenty-somethings with VERY SERIOUS PROBLEMS AND STUFF.

What I mean by no one bad, is that he leaves you with something to appreciate about everyone in his films, you can empathize with all of them.

In Rushmore, you can't not like Bill Murray.

In Tennenbaums, you can't not like Royal Tennenbaum.

Sure, he makes his characters into set devices (most obviously in Darjeeling Limited, which is the first Wes Anderson movie I actively disliked).

We must have different definitions of "can't".

oh, come on, man! How can you fault Royal Tennenbaum for moving back in with his family with a full fake IV set-up and swapping out Tic-Tacs for medicine?

That's funny! Sure, he's a total reprobate and you can't trust him as far as you could throw him, but it's obvious that he missed being with his kids and being a part of their lives.

That's what I'm talking about - when Wes Anderson is on, he builds the villians in his movies with enough humanity so that you go along with their motivations.

In Darjeeling, there wasn't any of that - the three brothers were like drugged-out icebergs. I wanted to derail that train they were on, except for how cool it was to look at.

Late to this party but -- I loved it! (Just watched on pay per view.)