Best movie of this year hands down!

A Brilliant Conflict

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

I think it was the mid-90's when I first watched the film King of Comedy, and I remember being taken aback by how, some 10 years prior, the film seemed to have perfectly satirized the world of the celebrity and those famous for little else than seeking out fame regardless of their talent. Watching Nathan Barely for the first time, I have the same benefit of hindsight since it is almost a decade since this show screened on Channel 4 for the handful of people that actually watched it (and the even smaller group that stayed with it). I remember hearing about it at the time, but it seemed very London-specific with its characters and world and it didn't appeal to me.Watching it now, too much of it is instantly recognizable as manifested in the world we currently call hipsters; a culture where some talent exists but too many are trend-following yaysayers about anything that is seen as cool. Also looking back, it is hardly surprising that it is so brutally harsh on these characters since the show was written by Charlie Brooker – one not known for holding back. And harsh it is as it portrays almost everyone as talentless and clueless but yet supremely confident or numbly stupefied to the whole thing – even those "normal" characters get no grace as they are shown up for their complacency and/or complicity in the whole thing. As an attack on a subculture it doesn't miss its target very often and it is depressing how so much of what it shows has gone on to become almost the norm (wanky art, cruel prank shows, obsessions with trends and being "in", slang terms).Unfortunately for the show the frame in which this material is put is not as strong as it needed to be. As a sitcom, the series tries to have some structure and indeed we get narrative devices mostly from the characters of Dan and Claire, needing money and/or work and then around this basic structure other things happen. This isn't terrible but for sure it is not as strong as it needed to be for a weekly 6-part comedy and without a real structure or development, it is easy to think that the points it is making are not only the same ones it made at the start but also being made the same way.The cast go with whatever is asked of them, even if sometimes it is pretty straightforward. Burns doesn't hold anything back and he is indeed a tremendous waste of space with his hollow insecure character and lack of consideration for others around him – he plays it very well throughout. Barratt is also very good as he is the straight man in the cast but at the same time he isn't allowed to just be on the outside. Keelan does what she can with a non-character; she herself is good but the character is not. The supporting cast is (with hindsight) quite incredible as it includes Whishaw, Fielding, Cumberbatch, Sosanya, Eldon and many other faces and names you'll know. Everyone does well with what they have to do, but as before, they are not always rewarding with something that is going somewhere.It is a show that is worth a watch for what it does very well, but it does have weaknesses in the structure and lack of development and narrative, and these do rather leave the impression that it is doing the same thing in the same way for the duration of the season.

I've watched the DVD several times now and I can say it's hilarious. It did take a little to get over the overly annoying characters though but...I caught this on TV when it came out and I didn't really give it the time and as such... I didn't really get much out of it. To tell you the truth, the character wound me up a lot. Later on a friend pointed out that Chris Morris had directed it, so I had to give it another go.Being a Chris Morris fan (other for Blue Jam, which I thought was just a little bit too far over the line) I had to give it another go. And it was worth it. Give it a bit of time and there is no turning back. As many have said, it's not an overly obvious joke based Sitcom but it's in the subtleties.I'd say, give it a go and you MAY love it… or you can give it to a friend. The choice is yours.Mat

I came to Nathan Barley one Friday night totally by accident, as i am usually out and about on weekend nights. I stumbled on it and was immediately sucked in by their world. It may have got the lowest ratings channel 4 have ever received on a Friday night, but its popularity in DVD format shows its cult following. HMV (Leeds)sold out in their first week and had to re-order another 200 or so due to unexpected sales. The comedy depicts an image-conscious world where most of the characters are working in the media spectrum, either in newspapers (Dan Ashcroft), documentaries (Claire Ashcroft) or in websites/music or anything else he can get his idiotic hands into (aka Nathan Barley). The show is the typical 6 episodes. It centres mainly around the 'friendship' between Nathan Barley and Dan Ashcroft. Barley loves Ashcroft and wants to be just like him (e.g. copying haircut, salmon/scrambled egg coffee) but Dan Ashcroft despises him for being 'the King of the Idiots' and for wanting to sleep with his sister. Just as Dan seems to be winning his little personal duel against Barley, things go wrong for him. The comedy is layered and warrants multiple watches. I have watched 'The Mighty Boosh' last week to see what all the fuss was about. I personally believe Nathan Barley to be a far better comedy. More development of characters, better use of language, more money spent on design, interesting take on London society. Futuristic yet still very accessible, i recommend Nathan Barley to anyone. Even my dad managed a few laughs. It has catchphrases and songs, and games (Barley's take on paper, scissors, stones) and slogans (Suga Rape)and a high number of laughs per minute. It is worth buying the DVD just for the booklet of stencils and slogans and 'political comments' which accompanies it. Futures yeah! Would have been nice if Vince Noir (off 'the Mighty Boosh') had been given a better part. If Peep Show was the comedy of 2004, in the words of Ricky Gervais, perhaps Nathan Barley will end up being the new comedy of 2005. Believe.

Well, I thought this was just great. Starting as a light hearted satire then slowly, inexorably descending into darker and darker territory, right up until the very end. The final scenes going beyond comedy and pathos, Dan resignedly saying "Shut up" as he lets himself drop out the window, the Jam-like rewinding of the camera and the freeze frame of Pingu diving out the window, the final image retreating as Dan lies motionless in hospital...What's not to like about this series? The original music alone is incredible, a mix of IDM/electronica that's too convincing, too good to be just pastiche. Nathan's electro clash rap at the club is ... I don't possess an ounce of the wit necessary to describe it… "A night down the pub, with your mates, and its f--king mental!"… There are few conventional gags, but there are plenty of moments when I get a cold thrill down to the marrow that only comes from watching utter, deft genius on display. A desperately funny series, perhaps misunderstood. I think people may have watched this with far too many preconceptions, about Morris, about sitcoms, and were very quick to judge after just watching the first episode. People may have been upset recognizing themselves unflatteringly represented here, or irked that they were wrong footed in the way the series developed. Morris is a dark, dark, dark writer. A very funny writer too, and far, far more intelligent than 99.9% of his audience. That he lets any of us peasants see his work is a miracle, and we should be thankful for whatever he gives us.