nap dyn.

this movie sticks out to me as a great great comedy that was dogged by people who refused to let it be what it was and not what they had come to hate as a cultural phenomenon. the movie was edgy (though not dark or vulgar), minimalistic, eerie, and hilarious. it was a movie that had never been made before and despite numerous attempts (i'm looking at you eagle vs. shark) will never be done quite so well. the characters were set up to overact yet seemed a bit underacted, creating a sublime flambe that goes down often without you even knowing the joke went down (like when kip e-serenades lafawnduh with twinkle twinkle, or the reappearances of glamour shots throughout the movie). while on one level it seems stupid, it is sooooo pervasively NOT COOL that it works, from the mid nineties haircuts, eighties fashion sense, wedding dresses at prom, uncle rico's football video and slap bass theme music, and haylie duff. i will reference the paste review of the new killers album day and age, napoleon dynamite refers to a time when there was no F in OMG and gossip girl was the less snarky OC. look back and the first time you saw it, remember how much you loved it, and forget about everyone going "gaahhhhd" and wearing "vote for pedro" t-shirts.