018: The Rehearsal and Sinners

Nathan Fielder's The Rehearsal is probably the most brilliantly strange "reality" show to date.  An uncanny mixture of documentary, memoir, comedy show, and adventure movie, The Rehearsal pushes the usual conventions of TV, deconstructing the elements that go into producing and directing an almost impossible series of thrilling, funny and bizzare segments. Fielder, a bona fide eccentric and oddball, is clearly interested in revealing the absurdity of attempting to document actual life, while sparing no expense (HBO's money!) to make the attempt nonetheless. As Oscar Wilde once said, "All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril. Those who read the symbol do so at their peril. It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors.”  More than any other creator currently making art, Fielder is in the Wilde camp. Art may be futile, but it's very futility is it's greatest liberty. 

Join Tom and Azed as they dive into The strange and beautiful world of The Rehearsal. Also in this episode: mini reviews of Sinners, The Shrouds, Thunderbolts and some reco's from The Cannes Film Fest.