M: [laughs]
J: Blech. I mean really.
M: God, I'm not used to the typing.
J: I know! We're going old-school today, blogging from none other than The Pig on a lovely (rainy) Sunday afternoon. Again though, shots from a straw, not a great idea. Ouch.
M: [sips Bloody Mary]
J: That's the ticket! Today BWAB is offering you a special treat, a blog that is NOT about a movie from England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, or Northern Ireland.
M: Or the Isle of Man.
J: Does that still count? I really didn't know that was a country.
M: It is very much a country, and I think we should try to find a movie from there.
J: Given the rule-bending that's about to occur (get excited), I really think we should. Something to bring us back to our Atlantic roots.
M: [nods appreciatively]
J: Our post today hails from the land of the Kiwi, New Zealand. I wanted to title this post, "BWAB Goes (Further) South" etc., but I got caught up in the difference between the further/farther semantics. Either way it would be wrong.
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| That face tho. |
M: [coughs] [taps chest]
J: Yeah, let's get this done.
M: The pepper...
J: Oh, it was the real drink!
M: A drink made by a real bartender.
J: [sips vodka from straw] [makes face] [sips Bellini]
M: I was missing this old school style, but now I'm kind of missing the podcast.
J: I was just hitting my stride! But really, the podcast is fun too. I think we should combine the two in some fancy creative way.
M: I thought that said fancy cream at first. [laughs]
J: Podcast cre... nope, can't go there.
M: "Combine them in some fancy cream!" Delicious.
J: BUT ANYWAY, we're here to blog about What We Do in the Shadows, which was an unbelievably funny and weirdly relatable docu-dramedy about vampires and werewolves in New Zealand.
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| On Fridays we go clubbin'. |
M: Can I just say, first of all, that I love that you found it weirdly relatable. I don't disagree... but I just wanted to point that out.
J: I meeeeeean, there's the loner outsider, the apartment life, uhhh... maybe that's it.
M: Someone mentions Twilight.
J: SHUSH.
M: But yes, in addition to being weirdly relatable, it was a hilarious effort from the creators or producers of Flight of the Concords, a show I had not seen until recently.
J: I think they were both creators and producers... or maybe it was writers and actors...
M: Friends and family?
J: I'm sure all of the above. I also just saw Flight of the Concords recently. I'd seen snippets before, but the episodes are really great. Super dry humor, utter sincerity, songs...
M: Yes, hilariously brilliant songs.
J: I'm not a huuuuge fan of the docu-anything format, so this movie lost me a little there, but the characters were truly inspired. Even Stu, who played, in effect, his real self.
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| Stu shows Viago the internet for the first time. |
J: They literally found an awkward IT guy named Stu and had him play an awkward IT guy named Stu, who nonetheless befriends an entire city of undead/otherwise supernatural individuals. Individuals who are undead/otherwise supernatural? People-first language. It's important.
M: I was going to say "supernaturalized people," but I think that's something entirely different.
J: [snorts] I don't even know where to start with that one. Supernatural fans?
M: In any case... they brought much of the charm of the FotC show, as well as a lot of other hilarious New Zealanders I had not previously heard of, to this film. Does that make sense?
J: Almost... charm and New Zealanders... all from FotC!
M: No... not really...
J: Charm from FotC... and New Zealanders!
M: There it is!
J: It's true, at least two of the main characters were regulars in FotC, and another couple were stand up comedians in their own right. All together, it made for a really dynamic cast. The original draw for me was the idea of modern-day vampires living together and dealing with the same sorts of issues we all deal with from time to time, like disruptive or rowdy roommates, exes, the works. For some reason this hasn't really come up in the American portrayal of vampires. They're always "other" or somehow "apart" from society, even in Twilight, which I totally have not seen a bunch of times.
M: I mean, if you think about it though, what is the Twilight family, the Cullens, if not a bunch of vampires sharing a house together? They're not an actual family and therefore as good as roommates. Not to say that you have to be blood related in order to be family...
J: You make a good point. However, my point about Twilight is that they clearly have ample money, can function in society as much or as little as they want, and choose to live together as a family. In WWDitS (I can't think of a way to make that better)...
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| The chore wheel strikes again. |
M: I don't think you can, I think that's the best it can possibly be...
J: Anyway! In the movie, they're clearly only living together for financial reasons, they don't have modern, fancy cars or clothes, they share chores (which for some reason, the Cullens don't have) and they argue about really mundane things, with I think most other writers assume vampires have figured out by the time they've lived a few hundred years. One would hope.
M: That's a good point! I think that makes me like "double-u double-u dits" even more.
J: As it should! It's a unique take on the vampire craze, and one that's done really, really well.
M: I agree wholeheartedly. Or heartily. I don't know. One of those. Both of those.
J: We're in perfect blogging form, guys. Happy Sunday.
M: [laughs] Brogues. They have accents.
J: I thought you said "sexes" and I was like, pretty confused. Not super confused, because I knew what you meant, but sort of worried for a minute.
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| "Vampires don't put towels down." |
J: Accents! Yes! Glorious Kiwi accents, which we recently decided, despite the fantastic FotC spoof, were really different from Australian accents.
M: [nods] Definitely.
J: I'm not sure exactly how, other than "supporting the little guy" or whatever, but it seems different.
M: Oh, I have something to say about New Zealand/Australia! So, this was a few years ago. It was also a rainy day. It might have been a Sunday. I was in a hostel in London with three very obnoxious Australian men. I say men, they were like maybe 18. Anyways, they were lecturing a bunch of us on the Australian accent, the sort of, "it's not shrimps on the barbie, we call them prawns," yada yada yada, and I swear that either they told us or I inferred that... somehow I came to the conclusion that Rocko, from Rocko's Modern Life is not Australian. He's from New Zealand, and that's why he doesn't sound quite like you think he should. He doesn't sound Australian because he's not. He's from New Zealand.
J: Oh my god. Wow. I think you're right, he's always sounded a bit too... dorky? Is that a thing? To be Australian.
M: I think it's part of the show even. Part of the reason he's not a kangaroo, he's a wallaby.
J: Well that certainly holds up in FotC and even WWDitS; they're lovably, wonderfully awkward and ever-so-slightly counter-culture. They're the Canada to our America.
M: Yeah, well said.
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| Nick in the corner. We all have our moments. |
J: I like it. That being said, I'm not 100% sure I could tell the difference if someone from New Zealand walked up to me and said something versus someone from Australia.
M: That would be a great Buzzfeed article.
J: ARE YOU LISTENING BUZZFEED. We have an idea for you that is not a moronic quiz about what your favorite pizza says about you!
M: In their defense, they did have a quiz about what vampire you were from WWDitS.
J: They did!!! I got... Nick, I think. It wasn't a surprise.
M: I got Stu. Also not a surprise.
J: Stu's not even a vampire, guys. It makes perfect sense.
M: I am also not a vampire. We have so much in common.
J: [laughs too loud]
M: But really, we kind of do. [makes wrap-it-up signal]
J: But wait, one more thing! We're on Facebook! Check us out at http://www.facebook.com/BlogWithABrogue. We don't have much up yet, but soon ALL THAT WILL CHANGE. Stay tuned!
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| Tuned? Tuned! Hahaha! |
