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[Mason]

So who else has seen it? I believe it opens wide later this month, but it's been showing in some cities for weeks now. I was amazed how big of a cult following the film already has. I attended a free screening and met a guy who has driven hours and seen it three times already. There were also people were wearing Napoleon Dynamite shirts (and not just the ones they were giving out). I can really see this going on to be a big cult thing.

It's one of those bizarre comedies in the vein of The Royal Tenenbaums, and it's really funny. It tells the story of a weird kid named Napoleon who lives in a small town in Idaho. If you live in a small town or have weird family members, you'll definitely love this movie. Its characters are all basically caricatures of the types of people we all know: the weird kid at school who sits around drawing dragons, the relative who is stuck in the past, etc.

"The characters of NAPOLEON DYNAMITE are inspired largely from people I grew up with in Idaho and especially from my five younger brothers and friends at school," explains Hess. "I basically set out to tell the story of the kind of young people who have never really had their stories told: people like that nerdy kid who sat next to you in math drawing mythical animals, the people who you never talked to or really got to know."

And the climax is probably the single funniest scene in a movie in a very long time. I just pissed myself for about 5 minutes straight.

Anyway, great movie. I'd recommend it if you think the trailer looks funny, but if it leaves you wondering what the hell's going on, this probably isn't the flick for you.

 

[fart]

i was going to see this movie last week but my roommate wanted to see spiderman.

in short, i'm never listening to that motherfucker again

 

[Fifty]

I loved it. I saw it a month or so ago at a free screening. The official website was pimping them out, and almost every city had a few screenings. Really funny movie. I think Ebert panned it, but it deserves all the good press it can get. Fox Searchlight really went far to create positive buzz with this film...I hope it pays off.

 

[Mau_Mau]

It's one of those bizarre comedies in the vein of The Royal Tenenbaums, and it's really funny.

Throughout the movie I kept wondering if this wasn't really a Wes Anderson script handed off to someone else to direct. Its a pretty good movie for what its worth, but I think I've seen it already a few times before...ZANG!

 

[Meier]

It's awesome. I'm going to my third screening next Wednesday so I'll get my prize pack, wee!

 

[Ecrofirt]

What is this about? I saw that got as a TRL VJ off the street, and I thought he was some wacko.

 

[mjq jazz bar]

It's hilarious, but the only reason it has a huge "cult" following is because of its heavy marketing push and the fact that the movie appeals to the "cool" crowd.

I don't see how it's anything like The Royal Tenenbaums, as The Royal Tenenbaums is a brilliant, nuanced dark comedy, while this film is just a bunch of braindead laughs strung together.

I guess some people can say that it's quirky in the same way as Wes Anderson's last two movies, but I'd still disagree. There's nothing particularly quirky about the way the director sets up his scenes or characters. The only really quirky things, to me, are Napoleon Dynamite and Pedro. Everything else seems rather normal. The director/screenwriter is just playing off the fact that the movie is set in Idaho (maybe it's Iowa; I forget), which makes some things seem a little more silly than they really are.

Napoleon Dynamite is just funny. That's it. I'd recommend it based on the fact that it's really fucking funny, and I laughed a whole lot. But I think if anyone tries to pass it off as anything more, they're full of shit. Because it isn't anything else. It really isn't.

---

I've also seen it compared to Welcome to the Dollhouse. Uh... come on. No.

 

[Drensch]

It was good, but I wonder how they're working it. I can generally see a free screening at will, basically if you want to see it you won't have to pay.

 

[mjq jazz bar]

And the commercials, banner ads, and pop-ups are going to get me burnt out on the movie very quickly. There's only so much I can take of the humorous content this movie has to offer. They're basically giving away every funny thing said in the movie by running 15 different spots for the movie every day.

 

[Mason]

Personally, I enjoyed Napoleon Dynamite a lot more than The Royal Tenenbaums. I found TRT to be slow paced and boring; so much so that I never bothered to go back and watch Rushmore or Bottlerocket.

 

[fart]

rushmore is SO good. watch it. now.

 

[mjq jazz bar]

All I'm saying is that I don't think it's anything like Wes Anderson's movies.

 

[FrenchMovieTheme]

this movie was awesome and hilarious.

my gf loved the part where he said "Do the chickens have huge talons?" i dont know why she was laughing hysterically at that, but everytime i bring it up she laughs. the ladies love to laugh fellas

 

[Manders]

Haven't seen the movie only because it's not playing at any of the theaters here in town. If it's getting compared to a Wes Anderson flick, I might have to go to any means necessary to see it.

 

[metsallica]

Napoleon Dynamite was OK, but I felt it was far too unstructured to truly work as a film. It really had no point, no conflict, no anything. Half the time I wasn't sure whether to feel sorry for Napoleon or laugh even while understanding the fact that security in quirkiness was the film's charm. In the end, all it did was remind me how amazing Rushmore was and is.

 

[way more]

The reivew by Slate says "It's like Wes Anderson on Quaaludes." I really can't wait to see this, I need a good comedy.

 

[Boogie9IGN]

I'd really love to see this, but my money is short right now and I have a few events coming up that require my funds

 

[Cerebral Palsy]

Speaking of Napoleon Dynamite... My friend showed me a short film the other night. The kid is fucking hilarious when he gets mad. Haven't got around to see it yet, but I'll probably go Monday sometime. Sounds hilarious.

 

[Alucard]

With any luck I'll be seeing it next weekend. It's playing a couple of cities over.

 

[Mason]

LOL

I drove four hours to see it.

 

[MIMIC]

What is this about? I saw that got as a TRL VJ off the street, and I thought he was some wacko.

LOL. Me Too! But as soon as he started talking about his grandmother (and the llamas), I knew it was scripted.

The movie looks fuckin dumb, though. For some reason, he had my cracking up when he was on MTV, but the previews for the movie annoy the hell out of me.

 

[mjq jazz bar]

Wow...

It really isn't that great.

But...

"What are you doing today, Napoleon?"

"I'll do whatever I feel like, gosh!"

I love how angry he gets.

 

[Smidget]

I just saw this last night and was EXTREMELY disappointed.

With all the comparisons to Rushmore/Royal Tenenbaums I was expecting something ...well.. funny. I might have chuckled a couple of times. The most annoying part was that I really thought the trailer was hilarious, maybe just how they edited it, but the liger lines still made me laugh. But overall... just a horrible movie, no plot, the characters were annoying, and it just wasn't funny at all.

 

[evil ways]

Looks like utter shit, the kind that appeals to the not popular, "you just don't understand it" indie movie crowd.

Maybe my sense of humor has not yet de-evolved to the point where I find a retarded person making retarded gestures and facial expressions funny.

 

[Oni Jazar]

There's nothing to understand. It's just a funny, off-beat movie. Unlike Rushmore which tries to be funny and off-beat but also has something to say.