Out Of The Loop

Ben Lyons, presently filling a seat on At The Movies, gets no respect. After watching him review In The Loop, I must concur.

He kept comparing it to The Office. This is so wrong it's bizarre. Okay, there's a fly-on-the-wall feel to both, and both feature a central character with foot-in-mouth disease. But their comic approach is completely different.

The Office is about quirky but familiar people unaware of how odd they are--the comedy is in how they unwittingly reveal themselves in everyday interaction. In The Loop is about hyperarticulate and hyper-aware people in the upper echelons of politics. The comedy is in the intricate maneuvers (and complex insults) they perform to get an advantage over their opponents.

PS Soon after I wrote this, I read that the hosts of At The Movies have been canned. Sorry, Ben. Sorry, Ben.

The general reception of this news has been hats in the air. For instance, here's a post at AICN that represent a common feeling (language warning):

Ben Lyons is a one-of-a-kind douchebag. Even the word 'douchebag' is being too kind. He is a fucking VILLAIN, of the highest order. His smug shit-eating grin, his shameless photos with any and every celebrity who will acknowledge his presence, oh, and his complete and utter lack in taste in movies. And it's not even lacking in taste. That would actually be a debatable issue. He has no IDEA of what makes movies work. He has no knowledge of movies pre-Independence Day or so. He is just a shill for movie studios to plus their garbage. He is a fucking cocksucker, and I still hope I run into him at some point in my life so I can punch him in the mouth.

Very good news indeed.