Cynical Cinema

The Best of Comedy Central Presents was a DVD containing the “best of the best” of the show - Lewis Black, Mitch Hedberg, Dane Cook and many others all showed up on the DVD with their absolute best stand-up material from the Comedy Central Presents show. But there were some weak links, and I questioned, at the time, whether this really WAS the “best of the best”. It clearly wasn’t, because it looks as though there are still more DVDs on the way. The Best Of Comedy Central Presents, Volume Two comes out today, August 26th, from Paramount Home Entertainment. It’s better and more consistent than Volume One.

Dave Attell kicks things off with a terrific set - filthy, self-deprecating, with lots of gay humour and small-penis humour. Then Mike Birbiglia does a solid bit, making himself into the Busta Rhymes of comedy - the parts where he ends jokes by yelling out his own name is priceless. Frank Caliendo has a set which is short on content but long on celebrity impressions. A guy this good at impressions can get by without too much content. Zach Galifianakis is OK, with a mostly musical set that has a few laughs. Stephen Lynch then does an even-more-musical comedy show, one that is very funny and contains many filthy lyrics and references to Satan. Also referring to Satan is Patton Oswalt, in a very funny set dealing with dating and double standards. Oswalt is currently best-known as a regular contributor on Lewis Black’s Root of all Evil show, one of the funniest shows on television. Perhaps the biggest surprise here is Nick Swardson, best known as the creepy guy stalking Jon Heder in Blades Of Glory, whose stand-up is very close to that character, but is far funnier than that movie. And Daniel Tosh closes things out with the weakest set on the DVD.

Altogether, this is a much more consistent DVD than Volume One of The Best of Comedy Central Presents. There is only one weak performance, and there are only two half-decent ones. The other five are terrific, and each 22-minute set is different enough from the others that it flows nicely. If you’re going to sit down and watch three straight hours of comedy, The Best Of Comedy Central Presents, Volume Two, is a pretty good place to start.

Into the Wild is a terrific film. Sean Penn has now directed his first truly excellent movie, and Emile Hirsch has served notice that he is one of Hollywood’s next major acting stars. Hirsch plays Christopher McCandless, a young college graduate with his whole life ahead of him, who decides to go ahead and live that life. Only, his idea of living that life is much different from his family’s idea of living his life. In fact, it’s an idea far more in keeping with Henry David Thoreau’s idea of living life than it is for most of us. However, whereas Thoreau invented a large portion of his masterpiece, Walden, and did not necessarily spend several years of his life living in the woods at Walden Pond, McCandless really did this. He really did leave after graduating school, gave up all his money and his car and his family, and headed out across America to live in Alaska. Into the Wild is the story of that journey.

And it is a fascinating one. Along the way, Christopher does away with all his identification, changes his name to Alexander Supertramp (no connection to the band), and meets dozens of interesting people. Among them are Catherine Keener, who is terrific, Vince Vaughn, who is reliably great, Kristen Stewart, who is ridiculously hot, and Hal Holbrook, who is magnificent in the role that got him nominated for Best Supporting Actor. Of course, the scenery is beautiful, since this is the story of one man and his desire to be completely alone in the wild. But the dialogue is real and poetic, the actors all deliver first-rate performances, and the message really hits home. That message is not necessarily about the freedom that comes with abandoning all of one’s possessions and doing away with conventional society and a “normal” life. In equal measure, it is about the consequences of doing exactly that. The effect that McCandless’ disappearance had on his entire family, in particular his sister. And the effect that he has on all those he meets. This bright, engaging, attractive young man makes friends extremely easily, and creates lasting relationships in just a few short days.

However, he is doing it in large part because he is running away from that most lasting Relationship of all, Family. And toward the end of the film, he says to Holbrook “the joy of life doesn’t come from human relationships”. But that is the fundamental flaw in McCandless’ philosophy. HIS joy actually DOES come from human relationships. Of course, by the time he reaches this epiphany, it is too late, and he has set forth on a journey where he discovers himself, and answers all his questions, too late. I don’t think it’s giving too much away to say he dies at the end - the trailers said as much. But as with most really good movies, it’s the journey that makes them worthwhile.