but still, man, the satire of office life was so perfectly pitched, sometimes watching that movie was like watching not a comedy, but a surveillance tape.
― maura, Friday, 11 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― jess, Friday, 11 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Andy K., Friday, 11 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
Every home should have a copy, though.
― Nicole, Friday, 11 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
Still - great just for the "O face".
― Pete, Friday, 11 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
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
― Kerry, Friday, 11 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
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, so many moments.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 11 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― your null fame, Friday, 11 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Tracer Hand, Friday, 11 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― electric sound of jim, Friday, 11 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
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
― j.a.e., Tuesday, 25 March 2003 21:58 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 22:03 (twenty-one years ago) link
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
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
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
― luna (luna.c), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 22:13 (twenty-one years ago) link
― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 22:15 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 22:16 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 22:23 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 22:34 (twenty-one years ago) link
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
― mark p (Mark P), Wednesday, 26 March 2003 03:47 (twenty-one years ago) link
― gabbneb (gabbneb), Wednesday, 26 March 2003 03:52 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Wednesday, 26 March 2003 03:53 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Wednesday, 26 March 2003 04:09 (twenty-one years ago) link
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
― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Wednesday, 26 March 2003 19:11 (twenty-one years ago) link
Classic, watched it last night for the 100th time.
― Chris V (Chris V), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 12:35 (twenty years ago) link
― Enrique (Enrique), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 12:40 (twenty years ago) link
― James Mitchell (James Mitchell), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 22:02 (twenty years ago) link
― Doobie Keebler (Charles McCain), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 23:08 (twenty years ago) link
"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
― Doobie Keebler (Charles McCain), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 23:14 (twenty years ago) link
― Colin Beckett (Colin Beckett), Wednesday, 18 February 2004 00:50 (twenty years ago) link
― Colin Beckett (Colin Beckett), Wednesday, 18 February 2004 00:51 (twenty years ago) link
― latebloomer (latebloomer), Wednesday, 18 February 2004 06:29 (twenty years ago) link
it's not that I'm lazy, etc.
― daria g (daria g), Wednesday, 18 February 2004 09:58 (twenty years ago) link
― Rob Bolton (Rob Bolton), Wednesday, 18 February 2004 10:16 (twenty years ago) link
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
― Kingfish Beatbox (Kingfish), Wednesday, 18 February 2004 15:11 (twenty years ago) link
― kephm, Wednesday, 18 February 2004 15:21 (twenty years ago) link
― kephm, Wednesday, 18 February 2004 15:23 (twenty years ago) link
― Chris V (Chris V), Wednesday, 18 February 2004 15:23 (twenty years ago) link
Classic: "go ahead and....," flares, unenthusiastic clapping at office birthday party.
White guys showing primal instincts soundtracked to hip-hop = dud
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 6 April 2012 22:26 (eleven years ago) link
Isn't the whole movie soundtracked to hip-hop?
― Godzilla vs. Rodan Rodannadanna (The Yellow Kid), Friday, 6 April 2012 22:40 (eleven years ago) link
Yeah, it's a little myopic to single out one Office Space scene in particular as 'soundtracked to hip-hop'.
― 1 of paper = 4 of coin (Deric W. Haircare), Saturday, 7 April 2012 00:22 (eleven years ago) link
basically everything up until peter snaps out of his hypno-groove is classic.
but there are enough moments in the oh shit we gotta wrap this up section to keep it still on the classic side.
― jesus christ (strongo hulkington's ghost dad), Saturday, 7 April 2012 00:52 (eleven years ago) link
"and then i guess i just...space out for about an hour."
― jesus christ (strongo hulkington's ghost dad), Saturday, 7 April 2012 00:53 (eleven 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 (eleven years ago) link
I am talking about the whole movie!
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 7 April 2012 01:46 (eleven 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 (eleven 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 (eleven 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 (eleven 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 (eleven 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 (eleven 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 (eleven years ago) link
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
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
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
this movie finally answers the question who who lives in those weird suburban apartment complexes
― 龜, 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
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
― 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
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbMLW4s2pBg
― Sort-of like a Hershey's kiss, only it's an anus (Old Lunch), Sunday, 23 April 2017 01:50 (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:
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
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