Make Time (Journey) to See ‘Nirvanna The Band The Present The Film’

I’m embarrassed. Really. That was certainly one of a variety of reactions that coursed by way of my physique after seeing Nirvanna The Band The Present The Film in theaters just lately. I used to be embarrassed as a result of I noticed one thing so hilarious, so on the market, so stuffed with popular culture ardour had existed for years, and I used to be simply now changing into conscious of its existence. However, at the least I lastly knew, so I pushed that embarrassment apart to experience another reactions. Reactions like pure pleasure, exhilaration, and the bodily ache of smiling too huge for too lengthy after watching a movie I really adored.

To fill you in on a number of of the issues I didn’t find out about, Nirvanna The Band The Present The Film is strictly what the title says, in the event you work backwards. It’s a Canadian movie, of a present, a couple of band that calls itself “Nirvanna.” That band is made up of Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol. The pair stars, Johnson directs, they usually co-wrote the screenplay. (Johnson additionally directed Blackberry and is hooked up to make a Magic: The Gathering movie.)The movie itself is about this band attempting to play a present at a Toronto venue known as the Rivoli, which, I later discovered, is strictly what lots of the present’s episodes are about, too.

That present began as an online collection in 2007 and have become the titular “The Present” in 2017, airing within the U.S. on Viceland. So it’s been round fairly a very long time earlier than final week’s launch of the movie. However, most significantly, none of that’s essential to having fun with the film. Which I say for a reality as a result of virtually all of it I found afterwards, and I nonetheless discovered the film to be a blast.

Now, on the floor, Nirvanna The Band The Present isn’t one thing we’d characteristic on io9. It’s a reality-based comedy present that may be stuffed with references to popular culture we cowl however remains to be principally grounded. The movie, nevertheless, just isn’t grounded. Within the movie, Matt and Jay provide you with a few of their wildest, most out-there plans but. Considered one of which is to journey again in time.

So how would two popular culture nerds determine to time-travel? With the rules of Back to the Future, after all, and so the movie very expertly skirts the boundaries of licensing to make use of footage, music, and extra from that movie to truly journey by way of time. From there, as you possibly can count on, issues go largely off the rails.

And whereas the movie’s reverence for popular culture is a bonus, it’s not the primary motive why it really works so properly. The primary motive is that these characters have a robust friendship and belief, which permits them to do and say actually wild issues to one another. It creates a degree of unpredictability and humor that feels very very like a mix of The Workplace and Da Ali G Present as a result of a number of what Matt and Jay do comes from filming in the actual world with actual folks. Are these folks conscious? Are they in on the joke? You by no means fairly know, and that thriller provides one more degree to the expertise.

The movie additionally makes virtually surprising use of how a lot society has modified between 2025 and 2008. It will be a sin to spoil among the reveals, however as soon as Jay and Matt make it again to 2008, among the largest laughs come from some delicate and not-so-subtle adjustments which have occurred over that point. And the characters themselves change too, which is the place we get a lot of the narrative beats.

However greater than that, watching Nirvanna The Band The Present The Film is just a delight. From the Ben Folds music that opens the movie to all of the tremendous nerdy jokes after which the loving relationship between two pals, it’s a kind of motion pictures that shouldn’t work however does. A lot occurs, and but all of it feels so easy. You’ll be able to’t cease watching and might’t cease questioning how they pulled this off, all whereas laughing your ass off. It’s additionally bought an virtually house film high quality to it, which purposefully makes the occasions that occur really feel much more audacious.

To explain Nirvanna The Band The Present The Film to somebody who isn’t conscious of it’s tough. It’s wholly distinctive and fantastic. However in the event you stated it’s form of a mash-up of Again to the Future, Cloverfield, Spaced, and Arrested Growth, with a splash of The Actual World, you’d be heading in the right direction. It’s a unicorn of a film that instantly made me get your hands on the present to develop into a fan years after I want I already had been (Which, sadly, hasn’t been attainable as a result of it’s nowhere on-line legally in the meanwhile.) In that means, although, Nirvanna The Band The Present The Film isn’t nearly time journey; it made me time journey, too. And you must make time and area to attempt to catch the movie when you possibly can.

Nirvanna The Band The Present The Film is now in choose theaters. Find tickets here.

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