Thursday, October 13, 2011

Let It Out, Laura Dern

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When I watched the first episode of Mike White's new HBO show Enlightened the other night, I made a mental note after that hysterically off-the-rails awesome opening scene where Laura Dern has her freak out to make the above gif. Course, when things are left up to my brain it's like throwing a hot dog down a hallway, never to be seen again. So thankfully yesterday MNPP reader Shane - hi Shane! - emailed me out of the blue saying that I ought to make the above gif and I was all, oh yeah! I wanted to do that! So y'all thank Shane for keeping my hole-riddled memory churning, and for that wonder up top, because that's one of the greatest gifs ever created.


Anyway, what did I think of Enlightened? I liked it quite a bit, actually. It wouldn't be something Mike White created if he weren't walking a very fine line of making me uncomfortable, and I am definitely uncomfortable already with the spiritual stuff - god turtles! - but I trust him to leaven it with some acid, like he do. And Laura Dern is an hypnotic enough performer that whatever she does is an amazing spectacle to watch.


I don't really get the boys at Gawker's claim that the show felt grim without humor, because I was laughing my ass off an awful lot. That scene in the board-room where we watch the cunning side of Dern's character slip out from the seemingly dim sweetness was a marvel. I can't wait to see the depths they plumb from here on out.
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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This calls for a "do, dump, marry" (or something similar) featuring Dern in "Enlightened", Collete in "Tara" and Linney in "C Word".
"Year of the Dog" could have been an amazing tv series, by the way.

Marshall1 said...

Mmmm...I felt a bit different...I didn't get any big laughs and only a few chuckles....also, I didn't think she was cunning, I felt like she was trying her best to rise above all the negativity that's happening to her, so she occasionally slipped out of her hippie/new-age mode....but I was definitely intrigued to see what kind of direction the show is going...

Tony said...

I love the gif. I was very pleased with this show. The billboards with Laura Dern's distressed mascara-teared face got my attention. It's hilarious though. I love the part where she goes into Luke Wilson's place after they catch up and shouts "FUCK!"