Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

Hottoceame The Age of Commercialism

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Steve Pulaski The Puffy Chair is often considered to be one of the pioneering films for the mumblecore genre, a style which is often associated with no name actors and a relatively quiet script. To me, mumblecore is a naturalistic approach to topics that could've been taken with unnecessary comedy or a stereotypical, kidding approach, but since they are handled on a modest budget, they are usually taken with admirable gratitude and soul.The Puffy Chair, released in 2005, is a unique picture for the time, but unfortunately an unsatisfying one. It revolves around Josh (Mark Duplass, whose brother, Jay, directed the film), a twentysomething who plans to travel across the country to deliver his father a fluffy, purple reclining chair that he has longed for. He takes the trip with his needy girlfriend, Emily (Katie Aselton) and his impulsive best friend, Rhett (Rhett Wilkins), and along the way, the picture decides to explore the trio's relationship with each other, along with Josh and his parents, and many others.For the first twenty-five minutes or so, the film is poignant, natural, and keenly avoids being indulgent to this idea of mumblecore that it seemingly erected from thin air. But for a directorial debut by the Duplass brothers (Jay serves as the main director, while his brother, Mark is uncredited), you more or less remain optimistic for what their future might hold rather than this picture.To begin with, the characters are rather stale and just tired archetypes. The main character Josh is moderately likable, his girlfriend is very overbearing, and is best friend leaves the viewer very unsympathetic. One of the biggest challenges for this style of film is that you must make everything unassuming and subtle, yet you need to provide the viewer with enough charisma and likability so they can invest valuable emotions through the characters. From someone who has seen three of the brothers' latest efforts, Cyrus, The Do-Deca-Pentathlon, and Jeff, Who Lives at Home (all of which have received a positive rating from myself), accomplish this goal successfully, while The Puffy Chair struggles to remain buoyant in a sea of difference. After a while, it resembles something of other road films, and that something is much of a muchness.Now, the performances from the cast are capable, the script is marginally pleasing, and the directing, despite the cloying zoom tactic the brothers would continue using in their films up until present day to sort of forcefully shove style in our face, is efficiently done. It's the story and the overall lack of anything to care about that leaves the viewer empty and rather disinterested.Starring: Mark Duplass, Kate Aselton, and Rhett Wilkins. Directed by: Jay Duplass.

frankenbenz After reading a lot of hype, I finally got around to watching the Duplass Brothers' The Puffy Chair. It would be easy to dismiss this movie as, yet another indy DV feature, but it isn't for one simple reason: it doesn't suck.The movie opens with a scene that establishes cracks in the foundation of a shaky relationship between Josh (Mark Duplass) and Emily (Kathryn Aselton). When Josh's beloved band breaks up he tries to salvage things with Emily by inviting her on a road trip to retrieve a puffy chair bought off of eBay. The problem is, Josh doesn't love her but he's too much of a "guy" to do anything about it...other than coast (one of many signs is his annoying habit of calling her "Dude"). By the journey's end, Josh is forced to man up, but in many ways (as the opening scene foreshadows) his and Emily's fate has already been decided.TPC's strength is in its simplicity - simply put, it is a road movie about a break-up. The story is presented in a straightforward way, but it does so with surprising honesty and depth. The script is peppered with realistic and funny moments and the actors effortlessly pull off everything asked of them. Anyone with any life experience has been through a messy breakup and the Duplass' do a great job at getting across how difficult it can be to read the writing on the wall.Nothing about the way TPC was put together is going to give film students hard ons. The camera work is amateur and overall there is no attempt to hide the budgetary restraints. But, unlike so many failed DV features before it, TPC works because the story is as believable as it is ably written, directed and acted.http://eattheblinds.blogspot.com/

robogil-1 I found this movie entertaining in the sense that the story and action moved along at a fairly even and comedic pace. There were a few pretty funny moments: Plates being thrown on the floor, The lady entering the motel room demanding them to leave and when he confronts the seller of the puffy chair. I think the performances were all believable. The story, especially the ending, was one that Hollywood would not embrace and that is primarily the reason that films like these have to be independent and low budge. I think it's OK that I didn't really love this movie, because I the story is not a lovable one. It's about an arguing couple and buying a chair. Need I say more? The appeal is more about holding up a mirror to the world and showing us what is there. We can talk about it, we can dismiss it or we can just use it as information in our own relationships. Stanley Kubrick used to say to his actors, when they would like to make the scene more real, sometimes reality is not the most entertaining way to tell a story. I think that's where most movies use poetic license to bend and sculpt reality into a pill that is easy for the audience to swallow. I'm all for that, but I also think it's nice to see a film like the Puffy Chair that reminds us of the dysfunction that exists in all of our relationships. This is no Little Miss Sunshine. But how this film differs from Little Miss Sunshine is how Independent Film is supposed to differ from the mainstream. People and ideas outside of the mainstream studio product. There are no stars in this movie and there is no happy ending. Little Miss Sunshine had stars and you could argue about the ending being happy. I think it's important for films like the Puffy Chair to exist and get entry into major film festivals because it allows new talent to continue to be nurtured. If you look at Sundance this year, it is very star and proved director driven. I think that is a bad thing. Let's embrace these types of movies, whether or not they are perfect. Because practice makes perfect. If you don't allow Independent filmmakers to work on their craft in front of an audience, their work will die and we will be subjected to the same old studio formulas that will numb us to death.

nv-11 I just saw this quirky movie today on cable. At 1st I thought I was watching a documentary the way is was unprofessionally filmed. But I got used to the unsteady camera and its chosen angles. It is a comedy, of sorts, about a road trip with a guy, his girlfriend and his not-so-normal weirdo brother to fetch a nostalgic Lazy-boy chair (won on auction at e-bay) for his father's birthday. Not terribly exciting, very predictable story line so I'm confused about the rave reviews. If you have nothing to do on a dreary Sunday afternoon and live in the Northeast (c'est moi) then watch this movie. I gained nothing from the boring story. Maybe the lesson I learned is buyer beware when purchasing something from e-bay? Watching a movie I like to take away something even just pure pleasure, can't say that about this flick.