i just got back from eagle vs. shark (imdb), a napoleon dynamite-style comedy from new zealand. the film apparently got a distributor, so it probably will be seen outside of the festival circuit. like napoleon dynamite, a lot of people are gonna swear by (and endlessly quote from) this film, and a lot of other people won't find it funny at all.
i thought it was funny. the problem with this kind of humor is that sometimes the film can seem contemptuous of its characters. and that's definitely an issue here; most of the jokes are about the lameness of the people on screen. and yet, i still had the sense that the filmmakers were ultimately rooting for the characters. and i found myself rooting for lily, one of the two main characters. the other lead, jerrod, was a different story, i don't quite get what lily saw in that guy. so the film wasn't perfect. but it was funny. and in the end the problems didn't get in the way of my enjoyment.
ADDENDUM: dave's take is here
