'office space': c or d?

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Office Space bombed when it came out, so that may be why Mike Judge hasn't had a chance to make another movie.

Every home should have a copy, though.

Nicole, Friday, 11 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

ALso its better as a bunch of sketches - it needed more development. The plot doesn't go anywhere, Aniston is hugely underused (in what could have been an equally amusing dissection of service level jobs) and the ending in disingenuous.

Still - great just for the "O face".

Pete, Friday, 11 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Mike Judge might also be tied up in his work on King of the Hill (which is a fine animated sitcom).

Given the cult status Office Space has seemingly garnered since it hit the Blockbusters of the US (& beyond), I would hope someone would give Mr. Judge another chance.

1st time I saw it, it seemed a bit dry. Gets better w/ every viewing, though - even the iffy parts (like, f'r instance, that ending thing). Stephen Root is a comedic genius - between this flick & Newsradio, he should be That Guy in every single movie made from here on out.

And for all you Alexandra Wentworth fans out there - SCHMOOPIE!

David Raposa, Friday, 11 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I've seen it twice now. I agree with what Maura says about the plot. On second viewing, my favorite scene is the dream sequence where Gary Cole is fucking the guy's girlfriend - he's got an ankle in one hand and a coffee cup in the other, and he goes, "yeah, about those TPS reports..."

I didn't find the end gratifying at all - I would have preferred for the characters to remain in a perpetual state of satire.

Oh, and the next-door guy was hilarious.

Kerry, Friday, 11 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

SCHMOOPIE! I saw that episode this week and couldn't remember where I'd seen her recently. I guess it has been more than two weeks since I last saw Office Space. Time to re-watch.

Having seen it, uh, at least a dozen times, I think that the plot is much stronger than people make it out to be - it kept getting stronger with repeated viewing, then got a little weaker, then stronger again. The thing is that the jokes keep up until the end, I think. If you have jokes why do you want 'plot'? Pffft. It's fine as is.

One of my roommates refuses to watch this because it's too much like her work.

Josh, Friday, 11 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Oh, we could sit here all day (in a productive fashion) and hash out our favorite scenes - the O face, sex w/ Lumberg, the fax machine beatdown, Peter gutting the fish on computer paper, Milton getting no cake love from the office birthday party, Peter meeting up w/ Joanna for the 1st time ("You know, I never really liked paying bills.")

Oh, so many moments.

David Raposa, Friday, 11 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

No, YOU'RE Schmoopie!

David Raposa, Friday, 11 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I believe all of you. Actually seeing it, that's something else. ;-)

Ned Raggett, Friday, 11 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

i think this movie got screwed over when the advertising department of the studio hacked it up and made commercials for it. i recall seeing them and thinking it looked like a piece of crap and that judge had lost it. then i happened upon it on HBO and it's just amazing; especially being trapped in a cubicle at the time, the whole thing seemed perfect. i think i've seen it 9 times now.

your null fame, Friday, 11 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I R thinking that this movie is the prototype for "American Beauty" and "Election" - guy in boring job breaks the mold, goes a bit batty, perhaps hooks up with woman much younger than himself, all shot with docu-style deliberation and contempt for those suckers in "the system".

Tracer Hand, Friday, 11 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Classic. Unbelievably so. I like to watch this one on a reasonably regular basis too. Mmmm. Yeah.

electric sound of jim, Friday, 11 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

one year passes...
blah ti blah

I think it's funny that this parents-in-mind page lists the discussion topics for this movie as: "Work, corporate culture, hypnotherapy, embezzlement, revenge."

Now, kids. We're gonna watch a movie called Office Space now. I want you to pay close attention because afterwards we are going to discuss what this says about corporate culture.

Sarah McLusky (coco), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 21:38 (twenty-one years ago) link

PC Load Letter?

j.a.e., Tuesday, 25 March 2003 21:58 (twenty-one years ago) link

classic, but you knew that!

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 22:03 (twenty-one years ago) link

loved jennifer aniston in it -- she found the perfect pitch for her character, as someone accepting her lot in life with a hint of sadness and not too much bitterness. the "flair" thing was absolutely perfect and spot-on.

the movie itself has its moments but it ultimately succumbs to too many fallback comedy cliches.

Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 22:06 (twenty-one years ago) link

Michael Bolton cussing at the fax machine = so true to my life that it hurts to laugh.

Stephen Root as the squirrelly guy with the stapler who doesn't get cake = PRICELESS.

The scene in the beginning where MB's bumpin' Tupac and the black guy walks by and he turns it down and rolls up his window = white guilt at it's comedic finest.

If things could get any more classic than classic, Office Space tops that chart.

nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 22:09 (twenty-one years ago) link

I'll definite admit the plot falls WAY off the rails, but the actors were all memorable, the early scenes tremendous and the film reaffirms that Mike Judge fucking rocks.

The only other movie I've seen the Michael Bolton guy in is Lost Angels, which stars Ad-Rock as a troubled rich kid trapped in a mental facility with Donald Sutherland (Michael Bolton plays the loudmouth of the facility and ROX).

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 22:11 (twenty-one years ago) link

Not "Pimpin' Ain't Easy" - it was "Damn It Feels Good To Be a Gangsta"... I dream of doing just that to the printer that makes my life hell. I loved it.

luna (luna.c), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 22:13 (twenty-one years ago) link

Wow, Ad-Rock's in another movie? (The only one I've seen starred Ad-Rock and John Doe from X as biker dudes.) To the movie store with me!

nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 22:15 (twenty-one years ago) link

oh yeah, Lost Angels is an absurd trip. Check it out. There's many moments where its apropos to yell KICK IT to the screen.

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 22:16 (twenty-one years ago) link

oh, and John McGinley, the guy who was "Michael Bolton's Biggest Fan" plays the worst doctor at the asylum!

Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 22:23 (twenty-one years ago) link

I was totally suspicious of this because I'm not a huge Mike Judge fan, but everything leads me to believe that this might actually be funny. I may go pick this up now. Huh.

Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 22:34 (twenty-one years ago) link

I love Livingston's dryness. And more movies need to take on the subcontinental engineer/computer scientist stereotype. Stephen Root was also excellent as the blind radio owner in Brother, Where Art Thou. I love Stephen Root.

Classic. The soundtrack is also killer (Geto Boys + old Mambo records = GENIUS)

Millar (Millar), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 23:13 (twenty-one years ago) link

this is fully one of those movies that kinda sucks the first time you see it and gets exponentially better from there

mark p (Mark P), Wednesday, 26 March 2003 03:47 (twenty-one years ago) link

I thought it was hilarious the first time or two and not as much since. Livingston is very good, but Aniston is beyond (maybe only because her character belongs in another movie).

gabbneb (gabbneb), Wednesday, 26 March 2003 03:52 (twenty-one years ago) link

I think anyone who's ever had a shitty job can love this movie. I hope someday I will be able to look upon it objectively and not merely crumble in sympathetic laughter at it all.

Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 26 March 2003 03:53 (twenty-one years ago) link

It is urgent and key to watch it, also inspiration for several people at my office who dismantled their cubicle walls to get a nice view of the windows.

Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Wednesday, 26 March 2003 04:09 (twenty-one years ago) link

It took a couple of viewings, but I've personally upgraded it from "charming" to "ultra-classic"

What's even more hilarious is that Swingline caved into demand and came out with a red stapler just like the one in the movie.

Chris Barrus (xibalba), Wednesday, 26 March 2003 05:56 (twenty-one years ago) link

I shan't panic at the obvious neediness going on: "OS" gets even more promotion and Swingline gets to make a buck. See? All the corporates are happy.

Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Wednesday, 26 March 2003 19:11 (twenty-one years ago) link

ten months pass...
Ohhh yeaaah just a little oooh.
http://www.garycole.net/gallery/osa.jpg

Classic, watched it last night for the 100th time.

Chris V (Chris V), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 12:35 (twenty years ago) link

OMG TOTAL CLASSIQUE

Enrique (Enrique), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 12:40 (twenty years ago) link

David Herman, the guy who plays Michael Bolton, has just cropped up in '24' playing a background tech guy wearing a crumpled shirt and a bad suit.

James Mitchell (James Mitchell), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 22:02 (twenty years ago) link

David Herman also does like a million voices on King of The Hill.

Doobie Keebler (Charles McCain), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 23:08 (twenty years ago) link

best Salon review ever

"When Peter and two other rebellious Initech employees get drunk, haul their hated copy machine out into a field and smash the damn thing to bits, the result is pure, electric cinema, as headlong and wordlessly giddy as anything in Godard and a hell of a lot easier to understand."

miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 23:12 (twenty years ago) link

By the way, I read somewhere that Mike Judge should be starting the production of his next movie this summer.

Doobie Keebler (Charles McCain), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 23:14 (twenty years ago) link

Heh, I was just thinking about OS because I saw Ron Livingston in The Cooler, which was mediocre. I like Livingston in everything I've seen him in, but he makes some baaad choices.

Colin Beckett (Colin Beckett), Wednesday, 18 February 2004 00:50 (twenty years ago) link

I take it back! I just checked AMG and apparently he was in Straight Talk

Colin Beckett (Colin Beckett), Wednesday, 18 February 2004 00:51 (twenty years ago) link

I saw it when I came out and really wasn't all that impressed. But, boy does that movie benefit from repeat viewings.

latebloomer (latebloomer), Wednesday, 18 February 2004 06:29 (twenty years ago) link

classic! I think I've seen it more than ten times now. yeah, I used to work at a place like that.

it's not that I'm lazy, etc.

daria g (daria g), Wednesday, 18 February 2004 09:58 (twenty years ago) link

Total classic. I have a particular fondness for the interview scenes with Michael - a pain I know all too well (given my last name).

Rob Bolton (Rob Bolton), Wednesday, 18 February 2004 10:16 (twenty years ago) link

SUCH a classic, and one I appreciate more and more each time I see it.

Is it me, or did Ron Livingstone impose some sort've fatwa on interviewers asking him any further questions about "Office Space" (when it's obviously the high point of his career)?

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 18 February 2004 15:01 (twenty years ago) link

i hope the ending of Judge's next flick will be stronger. i've always heard/read that he was unhappy with the last third of this flick.

Kingfish Beatbox (Kingfish), Wednesday, 18 February 2004 15:11 (twenty years ago) link

this movie is my life. i even work with a michael bolton. i have 10 bosses.

kephm, Wednesday, 18 February 2004 15:21 (twenty years ago) link

the training dept shows clips of this films to new hires. its funny while you are still in training. its plain cruel.

kephm, Wednesday, 18 February 2004 15:23 (twenty years ago) link

its pretty similiar to this place too. "yeah chris, im going to need you to go ahead and come in on sunday."

Chris V (Chris V), Wednesday, 18 February 2004 15:23 (twenty years ago) link

haha
hey-i might be moving to woostah!

kephm, Wednesday, 18 February 2004 15:41 (twenty years ago) link

one month passes...
should've posted this earlier but it's on tonight here in england:

Office Space
Sat 17 Apr, 01:10 - 02:35 85 mins

other listings magazines are available

koogs (koogs), Friday, 16 April 2004 16:41 (twenty years ago) link

Jebus, just scanning upthread, I never knew Alexandra Wentworth guested on Seinfeld! I only knew her from In Living Color.

Leee O'Gaddy (Leee), Friday, 16 April 2004 22:13 (twenty years ago) link

I like it more now than before.

gabbneb (gabbneb), Saturday, 17 April 2004 03:56 (nineteen years ago) link

wouldn't mind seeing this again. i'm not part of the "cult of office space" (partially because i find people who constantly bitch about their jobs as insufferable as their jobs most likely are) but what this movie gets right it nails to the fucking wall.

stockholm cindy (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 17 April 2004 04:01 (nineteen years ago) link

also i think slocki is just being petulant at this point.

jesus christ (strongo hulkington's ghost dad), Saturday, 7 April 2012 00:54 (twelve years ago) link

Isn't the whole movie soundtracked to hip-hop?

I am talking about the whole movie!

Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 7 April 2012 01:46 (twelve years ago) link

"PC load letter" bit is played out as much as any monty python or whatever, but still really really funny.

s.clover, Saturday, 7 April 2012 01:49 (twelve years ago) link

I know a ton of people whose first 'rap cd' was the soundtrack (me included)

Kiarostami bag (milo z), Saturday, 7 April 2012 04:27 (twelve years ago) link

"PC load letter" is the "these go to eleven" of the 90s/00s.

Dancing with Mr. T (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Saturday, 7 April 2012 04:47 (twelve years ago) link

I thought that was "I do not want to go to federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison"

Kiarostami bag (milo z), Saturday, 7 April 2012 05:06 (twelve years ago) link

no way can anything even remotely associated with 'mind playin' tricks on me' be a dud.

(The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Saturday, 7 April 2012 05:55 (twelve years ago) link

i've seen this probably around a dozen times too. my only complaint is that the scene where everyone's holed up in Peter's apartment seems to drag on forever. also Peter's lopsided eyebrows always bothered me in a weird way. but the movie as a whole is total classic

Estimate the percent chance that a whale has ever been to the moon? (frogbs), Saturday, 7 April 2012 16:32 (twelve years ago) link

eleven months pass...

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/24/business/staplers-the-attachment-thats-still-making-noise.html?_r=0

Staplers generally don’t rise to the level of prized collectibles, which is why a Swingline’s role as an object of obsession was so funny in the 1999 cult comedy"Office Space.”

In the film, a mumbling, superwide-eyed character named Milton becomes desperate after his red Swingline stapler is taken away during a frenzy of cost-cutting and downsizing at a soulless I.T. company.

You might assume that this stapler, not only cherished but central to the plot of “Office Space,” was a brilliant product placement move. In fact, Swingline had no hand in the story line. It had long stopped making that type of red stapler, and a black Swingline was painted red by the filmmakers.

At first, Swingline executives weren’t sure they liked being associated with such a dark parody of corporate life. But in 2002, recognizing the value of its pop-culture star turn, it released its Rio Red collectors edition 747 stapler. The company bills it “as the star of any office space.”

j., Sunday, 24 March 2013 17:47 (eleven years ago) link

one year passes...

saw this again last night for 1st time in 10 years - visually I thought it looked much older than it is, a lot of the styles and aesthetics scream 1993 to me

licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Wednesday, 11 June 2014 12:33 (nine years ago) link

yeah i forget it came out as late as it did.

now I'm the grandfather (dog latin), Wednesday, 11 June 2014 13:05 (nine years ago) link

two years pass...

http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/the-death-of-flair/

As Americans moved past the grief of 9/11 and “Office Space” became more and more popular, it became an embarrassment for Friday’s and its competitors. According a “Chicago Tribune” article, Friday’s focus groups were puzzled by the “junk” on walls, and in 2005, the restaurant chain started to streamline its look in Chicago prototypes, starting with taking out the faux Tiffany lamps, removing the circus-striped awnings, and reducing the clutter on the walls. It also ditched the pinback-covered uniform so despised by Jennifer Aniston. In 2007, Ruby Tuesday followed suit, getting rid of its leaded-glass lamps going for a “contemporary and sophisticated” feel in a new Orlando, Florida, restaurant. Suddenly, the formerly lucrative business of picking antiques for chains began drying up.

j., Monday, 6 February 2017 21:32 (seven years ago) link

That is an amazing article. Of COURSE it ends with a bar in Brooklyn bringing back the fern bar aesthetic

El Tomboto, Tuesday, 7 February 2017 02:18 (seven years ago) link

"PC load letter? what the fuck does THAT mean?"

Neanderthal, Tuesday, 7 February 2017 02:35 (seven years ago) link

xp yeah that was great, thanks.

new noise, Tuesday, 7 February 2017 02:40 (seven years ago) link

good read, thanks!

kinder, Tuesday, 7 February 2017 17:55 (seven years ago) link

It looks like a Luby's, circa. 1995:

http://i.imgur.com/vdQ4pJ9.jpg

pplains, Tuesday, 7 February 2017 18:37 (seven years ago) link

two months pass...

this movie finally answers the question who who lives in those weird suburban apartment complexes

, Friday, 21 April 2017 16:55 (six years ago) link

i mean, this movie is like Withnail or Python or Grosse Pointe Blanke with its quoteable bits but yeah, classic and has held up well.

Stoop Crone (Trayce), Saturday, 22 April 2017 08:46 (six years ago) link

"PC Load Letter? what the FUCK does that mean?"

Neanderthal, Saturday, 22 April 2017 11:14 (six years ago) link

my coworkers decided to re-enact a few scenes for a work function. my favorite: someone got a free printer via FB marketplace & they took it to a field near work & whaled on it w baseball bats, end result looked so good w low camera angles & the music over top :D

Yoni Loves Chocha (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 22 April 2017 17:24 (six years ago) link

there was a p good profile of Judge in NY Times Mag last week.

i guess i shd watch Sil Valley at some point

Supercreditor (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 22 April 2017 17:32 (six years ago) link

it's really good! s1 takes a while to find its footing but its worth watching for sure

Yoni Loves Chocha (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 22 April 2017 17:34 (six years ago) link

i was not expecting the beavis and butthead guy to be culturally relevant a quarter of a century later

mookieproof, Saturday, 22 April 2017 17:39 (six years ago) link

this, from the nytmag profile, is amazing:

Over dinner, Judge told me that he now fears “Idiocracy” was a little optimistic — maybe the country won’t even exist in 2505. Then he told me the best story of the night. He was location-scouting for the movie at a reform school, though he didn’t know it was a reform school at the time. He looked around and thought the students there looked, in his words, “kinda stupid,” and figured they might be of use to him. In the “Idiocracy” universe, the most popular movie in America, and the winner of eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, consists entirely of a man’s buttocks, passing gas intermittently for 90 minutes. Judge had made a 35-millimeter print of this movie-within-a-movie — just a few minutes of it — for a scene that takes place in a theater, and he wound up recruiting 250 of the “juvenile delinquents” to fill the seats. Judge figured he’d have to do a bit of directing to get the proper response from these extras — that context-free flatulence wouldn’t actually be that funny — but the kids surprised him. “They just start laughing,” he told me. “And they just keep laughing.”

flopson, Saturday, 22 April 2017 17:43 (six years ago) link

Amazing and kind of highlights what's execrable about Judge himself.

El Tuomasbot (milo z), Saturday, 22 April 2017 17:47 (six years ago) link

naaah, most kids in reform school are fucking stupid

Supercreditor (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 22 April 2017 17:48 (six years ago) link

like their parents

Supercreditor (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 22 April 2017 17:48 (six years ago) link

You forgot someone else

Neanderthal, Saturday, 22 April 2017 17:49 (six years ago) link

Rhymes with Linton

Neanderthal, Saturday, 22 April 2017 17:50 (six years ago) link

also the punchline to that anecdote is one of his major crew saying "why don't we just release THIS?"

Supercreditor (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 22 April 2017 17:51 (six years ago) link

Overestimating your fellow human beings is truly the definition of execrable

El Tomboto, Saturday, 22 April 2017 18:00 (six years ago) link

farting is funny

j., Saturday, 22 April 2017 19:07 (six years ago) link

I had a "didja get that memo?" week

Neanderthal, Saturday, 22 April 2017 19:09 (six years ago) link

That moment when Peter is hesitant to even open the door for fear of the inevitable static shock is so perfect

Wet Pelican would provide the soundtrack (Myonga Vön Bontee), Saturday, 22 April 2017 21:00 (six years ago) link

i was not expecting the beavis and butthead guy to be culturally relevant a quarter of a century later

― mookieproof, Saturday, April 22, 2017 5:39 PM (four hours ago)

tbh beavis and butthead has held up way better than most shows of its day

(The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Saturday, 22 April 2017 21:45 (six years ago) link

Seeeeeriously. And, if anything, it's almost prophetic wrt where we've wound up 20+ years later.

Sort-of like a Hershey's kiss, only it's an anus (Old Lunch), Saturday, 22 April 2017 22:49 (six years ago) link

Also, Nathan Fielder basically remade that fart movie for his show and it actually was completely hilarious.

Sort-of like a Hershey's kiss, only it's an anus (Old Lunch), Saturday, 22 April 2017 22:52 (six years ago) link

I think a fart movie would go over pretty well with a large part of the populace tbh

circa1916, Sunday, 23 April 2017 00:01 (six years ago) link

> Apatow

Supercreditor (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 23 April 2017 02:20 (six years ago) link

Y u doin layup drills man

Neanderthal, Sunday, 23 April 2017 02:25 (six years ago) link

Here's a layup drill:

i was not expecting the beavis and butthead guy to be culturally relevant a quarter of a century later

Ha, more like 500 years lat– oh wait, someone else mentioned that other movie.

pplains, Sunday, 23 April 2017 16:08 (six years ago) link

four years pass...

I really feel the "just work hard enough to not get fired" part of Peter Berg's monologue.

also I have a "PC Load Letter, what the FUCK does that mean?" moment every other day.

Filibuster Poindexter (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 4 May 2021 15:27 (two years ago) link

ugh Ron Livingston, why the hell did I confuse the two, lol

Filibuster Poindexter (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 4 May 2021 15:33 (two years ago) link


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