David Brent - Life On The Road
Added 2024-02-11 13:00:06 +0000 UTC
Today I bring you a film! TA-DAAAAA!!! Sponsored by my very own TDAH, Lol.
I am still shocked, SHOCKED I tell you, that I was able to do this in one sitting. You know what? I feel good. I feel real good! And although this was not what I was expecting this film to be, it was fun! Enjoy Darlin's! 🌻🌷🌈✨
Comments
Hahaha! NEVER get offended by my lack of ability to recall things or remember properly. I should get points for recognizing the song. Lol. 🤣🤣🤣
Mandy Cane Lane
2024-02-17 04:25:37 +0000 UTCSKYDIVING!!! Would love to but he'll no! Haha
Mandy Cane Lane
2024-02-17 04:24:11 +0000 UTCAhhh, very interesting take on him!!
Mandy Cane Lane
2024-02-17 04:23:09 +0000 UTCI wish I had time to do more of these! 🙌🏻
Mandy Cane Lane
2024-02-17 04:17:30 +0000 UTCOHHHH!! I was so confused as to where I could have heard that. D'oh! That makes sense 😅🤣
Mandy Cane Lane
2024-02-17 04:17:12 +0000 UTCHaha! I think just this and one other video. Still don't know how I did it in one sitting 😅
Mandy Cane Lane
2024-02-17 04:13:42 +0000 UTCAhh OK. Thank you Danny! I also appreciate the visuals! 🤗
Mandy Cane Lane
2024-02-17 04:12:54 +0000 UTCLol, OK, that makes sense. Thank you Michael!
Mandy Cane Lane
2024-02-17 03:53:33 +0000 UTCYeah, totally agree. The writing is brilliant!
Mandy Cane Lane
2024-02-17 03:53:09 +0000 UTCYES! 🙌🏻✨️
Mandy Cane Lane
2024-02-17 03:52:21 +0000 UTCI had no idea that is actually how that works 😅🤣
Mandy Cane Lane
2024-02-17 03:51:40 +0000 UTCAgreed! Amazing the impact he has on the projects he works on!
Mandy Cane Lane
2024-02-17 01:59:46 +0000 UTCHAHAHAHAHHAHA! No, I was genuinely curious as to what on Earth was I supposed to do 😅🤣
Mandy Cane Lane
2024-02-17 01:59:18 +0000 UTC🤗
Mandy Cane Lane
2024-02-17 01:58:35 +0000 UTCI still don't know how I did it 🤣
Mandy Cane Lane
2024-02-17 01:58:27 +0000 UTCHahaha, love it! 🤪
Mandy Cane Lane
2024-02-17 01:58:06 +0000 UTCI had a boss once who cheerily announced that "management has done a complete 360" on some project. I resisted the urge to be a dick and say, "ahem, I think you mean a 180" and just imagined the management team doing a full turn on the spot and going "ta da!"
paul
2024-02-13 08:08:19 +0000 UTCWell the 'Dont cry it's Christmas' song was on XFM EP6. Remember I put up the Ricky playing to Elmo from Sesame St. pictures up with it? I thought you would have remembered that :) And LOTR can be Lord of the Rings, but also Life On The Road :) I have also never seen a roundabout with a road through the middle. WTH? :) Great evenings viewing. Thanks Mandy.
Rusty Dog
2024-02-13 01:39:40 +0000 UTCWow I watch 4 vids today and nearly forgot my random question of the day. Is they a particular thing you wanna do that you're too scared to do?
Josh
2024-02-12 22:25:13 +0000 UTCReminds me of the old, 'a funny bird is the Pelican, his beak can hold more than his belly can'. When was the last time you heard that!?
Stevus
2024-02-12 18:16:45 +0000 UTC"A pelican's like a joke bird" totally sounded like one of Karl's opinions. 😂
paul
2024-02-12 17:15:07 +0000 UTCDavid Baddiel, the Jewish man on Taskmaster that you branded "the British Jeff Goldblum" knows Ricky personally and said in a documentary that Brent is basically just what Ricky would be like if he had zero self-awareness.
paul
2024-02-12 16:22:38 +0000 UTCYeah I was thinking the same thing, it's to do with how they mix the audio for movies. If she's comparing this film with The Office there could also be an element of The Office being intentionally a somewhat lo-fi docusoap where imperfect audio is part of the conceit/aesthetic.
paul
2024-02-12 13:45:40 +0000 UTCI think I'm the only one who enjoyed this film for what it is🤣. I find the best thing to do is try to watch it like it is a stand alone movie, and try not to compare it to the series. I know that sounds silly because it is a continuation of the series, but I find it has helped with a lot of things like remakes of movies and TV series, etc.
𝓕𝓮𝓲𝓼𝓽𝔂 𝓢𝓽𝓮𝓿𝓮
2024-02-12 12:27:41 +0000 UTCI tried watching this film when it came out and gave up halfway through. Watched the first 20mins yesterday and I'm going to try to soldier on to the bitter end this time. At least I recognise all the Afterlife actors this time around. Shame Smerch wasn't involved. This really lacks the heart the Office had. I still think Brent would be a bit of a laugh to work with in real life... in small doses perhapsly.
paul
2024-02-12 11:54:01 +0000 UTCI don't know if you got to see the 8OO10C video on Mandy's YouTube or not. I hope she doesn't mind me doing this, but we can't have you missing out on Mandy madness 😂 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1F2jeTTui9A21w5Mpaa2AOG2R5duDyi-5/view?usp=drive_link
𝓕𝓮𝓲𝓼𝓽𝔂 𝓢𝓽𝓮𝓿𝓮
2024-02-12 10:00:04 +0000 UTCDamon Hill, because he has a scotch egg powered car 🤪, although it is rumoured he smells a bit meggy.
Stevus
2024-02-12 08:50:01 +0000 UTCYeah that 180 from the band though 🤨🤨🤨I'm glad you were having none of that 🤣
Dextrous (Lewis)
2024-02-12 06:08:39 +0000 UTCMovies with Mandy 🎥😎
AWR93
2024-02-12 05:29:48 +0000 UTCThe Christmas song was played on one of the Christmas episodes of XFM youd listened to
Danny
2024-02-12 02:11:29 +0000 UTCThis was a new one for me. I enjoyed it but it was a bit weird and confusing at times. And it felt like they really dialed up the cringe and embarrassment factor for this. Seems like you pretty well covered it all, so I'll share a funny but quite serious thing with you that you may or may not know. There is a genuine phobia called Anatidaephobia, which is the fear that there could somewhere be a duck watching you. Yes. Lastly, did you get your money from the bank? And congrats on the amazing Miss Mandys movie marathon! 🤗🙌👋
Stevus
2024-02-12 01:38:19 +0000 UTCRandom question of the day. Whose your all time favourite f1 driver? I only ask cause since Tuesday I've been watching full races of the 2005 season. Didn't need to know that but whatevs 😂
Joshyboiiiiii
2024-02-12 00:10:38 +0000 UTCWell thank you for this Mandy. I've not got round to watching this film yet so was good tonwatch along with you for the first time. That sounds like the worst trip to the bank anyone has had to face before. How many other things did you react to that day too?
Josh Read
2024-02-12 00:09:35 +0000 UTCThose red brick houses it shows with the half white paint, are more newer houses. Still common but look nicer for TV. Probably more middle class. Something like this picture here , is what youd call terrace houses and is VERY common old housing https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Edith_Avenue_in_Moss_Side.jpg or https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/54/SeacroftSemis.jpg/1280px-SeacroftSemis.jpg is what we would call council houses, those are semi-detached. Those are typical working class houses. The style changed every decade or so, but its perfectly normal for people to live in houses that are over 100 years old
Danny
2024-02-11 23:17:59 +0000 UTCOoo what dogs you got? Also, tell me about this font of yours. If its fancy, it must be a Font of wisdom or something like that. Personally, I like a chocolate one 😋🤪
Stevus
2024-02-11 22:56:52 +0000 UTCHey, to answer about audio being different in movies i'm pretty sure it has to do with both budget and the fact that if it's going to be played in Cinemas they mix the audio differently for the surround sound stuff. TV shows play to people mostly where the sound source is only coming from two speakers on their TV so mixing in regular stereo is just a lot cheaper and good enough for the average viewer. Not everyone has the whole 5.1 Dolby Dooby Doo set up. They often remix music in the same way to suit surround sound in movies too. There was a Metallica movie that came out a few years ago (not some kind of monster, the other one) and the music sounded amazing in that, it was like being in a concert but with everything crystal clear.
SynphamyMusic
2024-02-11 18:46:52 +0000 UTCRicky definitely does have talent and he's a great writer. I disagree with the point about people liking him because he's famous or more accessible... Infact i think his last stand up show is the worst he's ever done and many people have said this to quell the notion that 'everything he does is gold'. It just comes across like a sour old man ranting about the world changing around him but for the most part, he knows what he's doing and he (in my opinion) has latched onto the whole golden globes thing and makes the mistake in thinking he needs to be the voice of reason for everything. It often gets in the way of what makes him great. I think a lot of people like him because he's so unique. He's a guy that for the vast majority of people, comes across very dislikable at first... But he grows on people just like Brent does with the realization that it's not a 'real' documentary. I think Gervais' appeal is that he's a real person given fame and fortune but he still feels like such a normal, fallible person that won't be airbrushed by hollywood. I mean look at his bathtime photos lol
SynphamyMusic
2024-02-11 18:10:35 +0000 UTCMy comment about the actual film and reaction was already horribly long - haha - so I refrained from adding my own comments about English architecture. Your post here is great and pretty spot on! I'm from a town called Cheltenham and it's the most complete Regency town in England. There are the new build estates you mention on the outskirts of the town, for more affordable housing and families etc. but the town itself is just beautiful, and I'm not saying that just because I'm biased. :p The town is mainly Regency, which is 1795-1837, and this is cream coloured/pale yellow, beautifully ornate and classy architecture. Cheltenham was a spa town back in the day, and is still known officially as Cheltenham Spa. It's a fairly middle class town and it interests me that even the term "middle class" has different meanings in America than UK. I think because of our different class system, we have many rungs below "middle" which makes "middle" quite high - as the ones above that are super posh and aristocracy. In America, their middle class would be our "working class" or "lower middle class". I digress.... ....English architecture does vary dramatically in much older places and England is an old, old country, so a lot of it is very varied and historical. It's certain chunks of larger cities and towns that will look a bit more uniform. The Inbetweeners, Car Share, and now this film....we're seeing the suburbs really, large housing estates that are purpose built for the growing population. They're not olde-worlde England, but most probably less than 100 years old, many not much more than 60 years old.....some very newly built to replicate that 60 and 100 year old perfunctory architecture. Bricks. Bricks. Bricks. It's a cold country, Mandy! :p We get 30C maybe 2-3 days a year. 25C maybe 10 days a year. The rest of the time, we need solid, thick walls. The much cheaper to build, timber houses all across the States simply would not keep the cold out in our climate! :-D (I know bricks are used in the States to support and more readily visible in older parts of the modern USA (Boston, Philly, even New York) but so much of the America's housing does seem to be made of......well, cardboard. I mean, erm.....wood. :p I honestly don't know how it compares with Argentina, Mandy. You'll have to educate me on that! :-D
Ash Jeffries
2024-02-11 17:51:13 +0000 UTCThanks for this Mandy! A great reaction to a film spin-off that is....hmmm.....yes, a film spin-off that is shall we say, interesting. :p I'm going to start by saying something positive about this whole outing for Ricky Gervais - the songs are actually fairly good. Not amazing, but OK. Ricky is a decent songwriter, and we're supposed to believe that Brent is a competent songwriter, not a terrible one, so this works. Brent's failure as a musician comes from his approach and personality - haha - not really anything to do with a lack of or presence of musical talent. Unfortunately, this is where for me, Life on the Road, ceases to be successful. Where do I even start? OK, so on another fairly positive note, it has some very funny moments, granted. I also doff my hat to Ricky for giving some of the funniest lines to other characters - I think Doc Brown especially gets some great lines: "We're actually quite similar. I mean, apart from that he's old, and white, and his songs are terrible." :-D The elephant in the room regarding the script as a whole, in terms of Brent's characterisation, and the whole tone and approach, can be summed up in three words: No Stephen Merchant. Right from the very first few moments, you can tell this is going to be a much less subtle, broader, more sitcom-y affair. The jokes were more outwardly bawdy, the characters almost immediately declare that they hate Brent, literally *telling* the audience what they think. And those who think he's "lovely, really" don't show it, but have to explain it to the documentary crew. I don't think this happened once in The Office. I always felt the Swindon lot in series 2 of The Office were really awful to Brent, made zero effort with him, and it was evident they didn't like him, but no one actively states it. They don't need to. Another thing notable from the very first few moments is the funny noise Brent makes after every utterance. He didn't have this tic in The Office. I find it really distracting, and quite forced. The *only* explanation I can think of for this is that David mentions having a nervous breakdown, and it could be argued that this is a conscious new nervous tic, but.....I'm not so sure; it's a tenuous link. Mandy (if you're still reading this - haha!) - I do think it's plausible that the lovely lady he met in the last episode of The Office would no longer be on the scene as that series ended in 2003 and this film is 13 years down the line, 2016. I never saw that relationship as a together forever thing. Always thought it would be 6 months maybe, a year tops. A nice interlude for David, but nothing more. The main bulk of the film isn't terrible on paper but the execution is troubling to me. The band *do* explain why they're doing it initially - they're session musicians and don't know where their next gig is - they need the money. It's a bit flimsy given how much they immediately dislike him, but I guess it's good enough....ish. They then proceed to continue on and on and go on to *despise* him. The problem here is that, yes, Brent is aggravating, and the tour woefully unsuccessful, but they're *so* hostile, and treat David like absolute dirt. He's evidently paying them a lot of money. Suck it up and be nice. But Ricky Gervais can't write it like that as he has no film if he does. I get the feeling that if Stephen Merchant were involved, as with The Office, it'd have been written far more subtly. They wouldn't have chucked him off the bus - they'd have felt compelled to include him and they'd have been gritting their teeth throughout. They'd each be written as individuals and they'd be more likeable and we'd kind of root for them a bit more whilst still feeling a bit sorry for David in his hopeless efforts to be popular. Instead, here, we just get a group of a-holes excluding a pitiful man we're being almost *told* to feel sorry for. Even the bit where David discusses his nervous breakdown openly..... hmmm.....I just can't see David doing that. If this were in The Office, it would have been written in within dialogue maybe uttered by Neil or something, expressing concern over David's conduct and how his mental health might be a root cause. David would deny it vehemently. It would be left up the audience to decide what they think. David here tells the audience that he's a tragic person who deserves pity. So much of this film falls down because it lacks the nuance and subtlety that The Office had in spades. Then we get to the complete u-turn the film takes where the band, who up 'til the 11th hour, genuinely *despise* David, suddenly act as though he's "OK, really". The trouble is, it's so sudden. There's no progress where you can see them softening, where you can sense that they maybe just feel sorry for him, that he's irritating but harmless; it goes from zero to infinity and Ricky's writing is....I'm sorry to say, absolutely dreadful at this point in the film. Mandy, you said it yourself when Dan said "For the record, I like you" - what absolute nonsense! Then we get talking heads of everyone going, "We love him actually!" - Just, Ricky...just.....no. NO! You aren't half as good on your own writing as you are with Stephen but you're better than this. (I hadn't seen After Life at the point I saw this film for the first time so I was maybe wrong on that front :p Sweet Jesus....but that's for another time.) I'm actually a bit of a sucker for sentimentality. Now, give me the bittersweet ending of The Office over this film, but even I did have a slight lump at the snow suddenly appearing. Subtle as a hedgehog in a condom factory, but it was sweet. It would just have worked so, so, so much better if the supporting cast's change of heart had been written well, been believable. It just wasn't. It's like Ricky got bored and just wanted to write the ending all of a sudden. Get it wrapped up. But it's self-sabotage. And a pattern in most solo Ricky projects - it's always the short-cut, always the lazy route. Ricky and Stephen even mention that they used to take 3 months on one 30 minute script in the Office days. I know Ricky only took maybe 2 months to write an entire series of After Life, and I doubt this script took him longer than a few weeks. Stephen was about the hard work and the detail. Ricky is impatient and just wants to get it done. It's never been explicitly stated but it's widely believed that Stephen and Ricky's probably "falling out" may have been sealed with this. Ricky wanted to do it, regardless. Whether Stephen was ever on the cards to co-write I am not sure but I suspect Stephen didn't want a bar of it. And good for him. It would've been a much better film had he been, but Stephen knew it was probably superfluous anyway. I think The Office's finale in 2003 was PERFECT. David Brent's life didn't need any follow up at all. To end on a positive note, none of this is about whether or not Ricky has talent - he's not the genius I think he believes he is, but he's a clever bloke, and a talented one. He's capable of excellence and has shown it. I'm actually so impressed with the songs from this film - the soundtrack is actually great. He knows how to write a melody and the lyrics are funnier and more touching than anything in the main dialogue. For me, Ricky, lets himself down because he's now his own boss who wants everything quickly and now and doesn't apply himself perhaps the way he used to and the way he should. He's a rich man - he's going to get gushing praise whatever he does because he's famous - and some people simply don't care. Who cares whether The Office was technically better written? Most people probably don't. Unfortunately, I'm in the awkward, hair-splitting minority. Broader, less nuanced work actually appeals more to the mainstream. That's why After Life has been so successful and why so many people who "used to hate Ricky Gervais" now love him. He's definitely more accessible these days and this film is more accessible certainly than The Office was - those first two episodes especially, when you're not sure what you're watching, are so accurate and brilliant, that you could be watching an actual documentary. But this lack of "immediacy" in the comedy switched a lot of people off at the time. Shame. A crying shame. I think most have it all completely back to front where Ricky Gervais is concerned. Alas, it is what it is (and of course, is only my personal opinion.)
Ash Jeffries
2024-02-11 17:22:53 +0000 UTCDoc Brown is his onstage name he goes by, hes really called Ben Bailey Smith
Michael
2024-02-11 17:02:35 +0000 UTCIt's not for everyone but I love this film, think it does a great job making you feel empathy for Brent, hes just a lonely guy. The line about being able to see through his smile is so accurate.
Michael
2024-02-11 17:01:38 +0000 UTCReally couldn't stand all the band members, they were all arse holes. Milked Brent of all his money, give him the cold shoulder, made him pay them to hang with him when he was down. Then at the end have the gall to say it was fun with him. FUCK THEM!
Danny
2024-02-11 16:25:25 +0000 UTCThey're session musicians, he's paying them to play it! Doesn't mean they're happy it's just a job to them 🤣
Michael
2024-02-11 15:52:25 +0000 UTCI Like how you notice the little things and point them out, like the guy turning his chair when David was singing. A lot of people don't pick up on subtle things like that and miss out, myself included. That's why I like watching with you. The lady in the hotel room is also in a TV series called This Country, which is hilarious in my opinion. She plays a character called Mandy 🙂. Also, LOTR = Life On The Road. Thank you for doing this squeaks, and for sitting for two hours with heavy hair. You are a star.🤗 Okay, now I will go shopping. The dogs are looking at their empty bowls and looking at me like I'm on the menu 😐.
𝓕𝓮𝓲𝓼𝓽𝔂 𝓢𝓽𝓮𝓿𝓮
2024-02-11 15:30:05 +0000 UTCSmerch notable by his unpresence here...
paul
2024-02-11 14:26:02 +0000 UTCWhen the bank lady told you your amount was too high for the ATM but too low for her did you think for a second about going Bullshit Man on her?
paul
2024-02-11 14:02:00 +0000 UTCCannot wait to watch this!
Rusty Dog
2024-02-11 13:08:38 +0000 UTCHey! 2 hours in one go? Wow! Happy to hear that you feel real good! :) I'm not so bad myself this Sunday, and now I'm looking forward to this treat. :) Thank you in advance!
Terje Flågan
2024-02-11 13:04:58 +0000 UTCJust as I'm going out Mandy drops a full movie. Do I need shopping? I better go, I can get snacks 🤣
𝓕𝓮𝓲𝓼𝓽𝔂 𝓢𝓽𝓮𝓿𝓮
2024-02-11 13:04:47 +0000 UTCLooks great can't wait to see. Happy Sunday, Miry 😊. And yeah when you said "Banks work..." First word in my head was "Badly" that must have been shit. I never realised till I travelled how many countries just haven't moved onto bank cards yet. I find best exchange rate is if you get cash out of an ATM at the country itself rather than before. In answer to your question about the English architecture. Yes and no. It's a long topic btw... In urban areas and new built estates, yes the streets are very similar to eachother, all the houses are made of the same brickwork colour and follow the same design for the whole estate. However, In older places, villages and settlements like York, it's surrounding villages and the countryside. Houses do vary on the Era they were built. Old Victorian houses and factories are converted into flats. Countryside houses tend to be cottages; villages tend to have older council houses which were built as wall to wall Terraces or semi detached (Google it) in the 60s and 70s onwards and are generally seen as better quality and affordability in spite of their small size. I'll tell you the council housing story later. But there are some nice bigger houses around. Mixed in. Old Pubs tend to make for nice houses too. Private new builds are nice. However in modern Britain as I said, all buildings are getting fairly plain, concrete and symmetrical. It's a bit depressing. Bigger cities like Leeds and Manchester feature the infamous tower blocks, big apartment structures full of low cost flats. They are unfortunately regularly associated with the chav sub-culture. But all in all, if you travel around Britain (especially Scotland and the North) you will see a wide variety of architecture from all different periods. I've messaed a link for an album of various UK housing and landscapes if you wish to see.
Benjamin Taylor-Yates
2024-02-11 13:02:14 +0000 UTC
