Below is the trailer for Love the Beast, a documentary about Eric Bana’s beloved car and the crash that destroyed it. And yes: I said documentary, not mockumentary. Eric Bana directed a movie about his car.
What kind of … but … where … how … how did he come up with the idea? Was he bored? Was he just sitting around the kitchen table one morning, thinking to himself in that lush Australian accent: “Self. I’ve got six movies coming out in 2009 and another in 2010. But that’s not enough. What can I do to keep myself occupied? I should direct a documentary. Yeah. That’s what I’ll do. But what will my subject be. Hmmmm. Oh, I know. I know! My CAR! Who doesn’t want to watch a documentary about my car?! I love my car …. obviously, everyone else will, too. That’s perfect. Ooooh. Ooooh. I could get Jay Leno. He loves cars, too. We can talk about cars on camera. And I’ll film it. And mass distribute it! You know who else would be great? Dr. Phil. Man, I love that guy. So insightful. Especially when it comes to people and their relationships with their cars. This is gonna be awesome. I can’t wait!”
Seriously, dude: Stick to quality flicks. And stay away from Drew Barrymore.
I am going to erase this news out of my memory so that mine and Bana's love can remain pure and true.
Posted by: Julie at December 11, 2008 9:52 AM
MMMmmmmmmm, that's good douche.
Posted by: admin at December 11, 2008 9:59 AM
So it's just me who finds this sort of adorable?
I mean...it's a big geeky man film about big geeky man cars...and yeah a bit...silly
But it's sort of sweet that a dude like Bana is composing a sonnet to his beloved car
I mean there's a big thing about boys and their cars, especially their first one...i find it endearing that he's still got such a homely connection
Plus there's something about Australians messing around and getting into crashes and having emotional journeys that i find awersome, I do not know why but you say to me 'a bunch of rough and ready Aussie boys reconnect with their dads/sons/brothers/cars/cats on a winding and epic journey through the outback/sydney opera hourse/the free and loose use of hallucinogens, all the while rediscovering what it means to be a boy/girl/koala bear and occasionally saying crikey'
Well colour me THERE
Posted by: nadine at December 11, 2008 10:00 AM
Strewth!
Posted by: Jerce at December 11, 2008 10:01 AM
Sham-Wow, what a dick.
Posted by: ThunderSacTriumph at December 11, 2008 10:02 AM
This could lead to a comment diversion ( if it hasn't already been done ) of the most self indulgent films/documentaries actors have appeared in/directed etc...
Regardless of which, its pretty lame....
Posted by: Alex the not so odd at December 11, 2008 10:06 AM
I wish he would have made this with the 'Top Gear' guys.
Posted by: twig at December 11, 2008 10:11 AM
The steering wheel is on the right side? How kooky!
Posted by: branded at December 11, 2008 10:12 AM
E.B. does a documentary about his car and he's praised, I use my car as a motel and I'm ridiculed.
Posted by: Pookie at December 11, 2008 10:14 AM
Twig, did you not see Jeremy Clarkson in the trailer?
Also, Australian accents are not "lush." They are whiny and cheap sounding.
Posted by: AM at December 11, 2008 10:24 AM
Obviously, this work is too vulgar for the hipster eco-terrorist sympathizers that hold the editorial line around here.
Go wash your Prius again.
Posted by: BarbadoSlim at December 11, 2008 10:31 AM
Pookie, maybe a Vacancy/No Vacancy sign would add an air of legitimacy to your establishment?
Posted by: branded at December 11, 2008 10:32 AM
I hafta disagree with you there AM.
Something about that accent is...alluring.
It should be goofy but it manages to be quite yummy
Especially if you've heard the actor (in the case of actors) use british or american accents for so long that'd you'd half forgotten their australianity entirely
Then its sort of hilarious as fuck and has more often than not rendered me useless with giggling
Posted by: nadine at December 11, 2008 10:34 AM
AM - yeah, but Clarkson is nothing without May and the Hamster. I mean, who will he mock for being short? Bana? Dr. Phil?
As for the movie itself...are we sure this isn't a joke? I mean a really, really elaborate joke?
'Cause if not...'wow' is all I can say.
Posted by: Shay at December 11, 2008 10:40 AM
whatever. The only roles I've liked him in are the running guy in Munich and the shark in Finding Nemo.
Posted by: jasper at December 11, 2008 10:46 AM
Nadine, kudos for creation of a bold new word. Australianity.
I can totally see Clarkson mocking Bana for his stupid accent. I could probably watch a documentary just on that.
Posted by: AM at December 11, 2008 10:51 AM
They are whiny and cheap sounding.
Sounds like you've heard too many bogans. I'm mistaken for British more often than I am Australian. As for Eric Bana, he's not bad. But he'll never be taken too seriously. He's a comedian in thespian's clothing.
Posted by: Goldie at December 11, 2008 10:55 AM
does pookie's car/hotel come with free HBO?
Posted by: dylanj at December 11, 2008 10:58 AM
I honestly don't give a shit what any of his movies are about, I just want to stare at that fine, FINE piece of beefcake for hours at a time and DAYUM. Ngh. Dude's #1 on my Freebies list for lusting out loud.
*siiiiiiigh*
You just made my day Dustin. I love you.
Posted by: figgy at December 11, 2008 12:20 PM
Hahaha this looks incredibly lame but I stick to what I said. That man could read the phone book to me and I'd still melt into a gooey puddle. Every time.
Posted by: figgy at December 11, 2008 12:36 PM
HE WAS THE SHARK IN FINDING NEMO?!
Posted by: nadine at December 11, 2008 1:12 PM
For the love of film, all of you good people must watch The Castle. Eric Bana at his best.
Posted by: thecastle at December 11, 2008 1:25 PM
Nadine, it looks like he was Anchor the hammerhead shark. Bruce the great white was someone else.
Posted by: branded at December 11, 2008 1:44 PM
I think i might have to rewatch it.
I honestly had no frikkin idea
Posted by: nadine at December 11, 2008 1:51 PM
Bana, you have ruined Band of Horses for me. Fucking asshole...
Posted by: JapJay at December 11, 2008 2:11 PM
I'm Australian. I'm as Australian as you can get. I use gumleaves for toothpaste. I don't use towels, I use koalas. I ride a goanna to work and I'm comically racist.
And so, therefore, I have carte blanche to call this the stupidest goddamn idea I've ever heard of. I can only assume Bana is completely hollow above the shoulders; he's got a Ming vase for a heard.
Posted by: BlackMage at December 11, 2008 4:12 PM
Rowles,
Usually you pretend to be an actual film critic and I pretend I'm not reading the ramblings of a complete hack. It's when you fuck with the The Chopper that I draw the line.
Posted by: not amused at December 11, 2008 5:10 PM
It has always been said it does not matter what the movie is about, but how it is about it.
I have seen documentaries, discovery specials and BBC show about the dumbest things, but some were hypnotizing and incredible, some where utter crap, but some where great and I felt the better for seeing it. So Eric Bana wants to make a documentary about his car, a car that he has owned for a very long time, raced, crashed and to his life and the life of his friends has become an important thing. If he think that he has a story to tell what´s wrong with doing so.
In the end its about a guy doing a documentary about something he loves and we need that, good or bad, we need that. ( I reserve my judgment on the movie until after I see it, and I am going to see it, How can I skip it, Eric Bana just made a movie about his car :)
Posted by: 13thDuke at December 11, 2008 6:34 PM
I remember laughing about this!
There was media coverage about this, it was all like "Film Star Eric Bana Racing Car Driver?" and he crashed in his first race. Man that is poetic justice.
Posted by: caity at December 11, 2008 6:58 PM
E.B. does a documentary about his car and he's praised, I use my car as a motel and I'm ridiculed.
Posted by: Pookie at December 11, 2008 10:14 AM
That's not why you're ridiculed, Pooks.
Posted by: Che Grovera at December 11, 2008 11:02 PM
I can't hear Eric Bana talk in his native accent (an accent I share, with some degree of pride...) and not think of Poyda from the full frontal days...and his Ray Martin impersonation...
Also, I think you'll find that Bruce the Shark in finding Nemo was not 'someone else' but Barry Fucking Humphries, who may be known better to most of you as Dame Edna Everidge.
Eric Bana makes a movie about his car...meh. However, if Jeremy Clarkson had made this movie instead, I would be there faster than the end of Eric Bana's racing career. Damn that man can snark. And I do love some snark.
Posted by: rach at December 12, 2008 6:45 AM
Ha - Eric Bana's signature character back in the days when he was 100% comedian was called Poiter (say it with the bad Australian accent, you'll get it. Actually, probably you won't, but like I fucking care, you Merrkans with your drawley vowels and overly-caressed-to-the-point-of-sexual-harassment "r"s. Every time I see Eric Bana on a film screen, I think "it's Poiter! Poiter's in a movie! Holy shit!").
And the accent for that character could have stripped paint. I think his actual accent is just a dialed-down version of that.
The Australian accent is kind of bizarre and not always kind to the listener. But it's distinctive, and it's ours and even Meryl Streep couldn't pull it off.
Posted by: Oztraylienne at December 12, 2008 6:52 AM
It would have been awesome if the guy had said
"are you mad? I am your daughter" and then become an old blind woman wearing a white dress.
Posted by: Mario at December 13, 2008 1:02 PM
Some of Banas best work was when he was still an Aussie (Oi Oi Oi) before he went to the US in search of the $$$. It just sounds so fake to hear him use another accent. For overseas fans, try and get hold of a copy of The Nugget or The Castle (ahh, the serenity!). Classic Aussie Comedy that will probably go right over most Seppos heads.
Next thing you know, you will tell me that you didn't know that Hugh Laurie (House) is British.
Posted by: rooballs at February 19, 2009 10:06 PM
Bana is a accomplished race car driver, a good stand up and reasonable actor, and a great bloke to boot. He got a good part in "Something in the Air" first time he drifted from comedy and did well. He's from the Northern Burbs of Melbourne where the car culture was strong, still is among the many new Australians from the middle-east, I suspect through this film he nails the Man/Car relationship as being more than the sum of the bits but more a companion in his life journey. Taking a old car in a Tarmac Rally at speed when most of your racing is normally done on circuits is not the smartest thing but I think he comes to this conclusion soon after his prang (crash). I take this as it is intended a expression of a journey in the metaphorical sense and for someone who hasn't completed high school to have the insight to do it and feel that it is important enough to share with others I say good on him. Bet it will be a success.
Posted by: Johne at February 25, 2009 9:54 AM
Yeah, what a crock?!! Im mean who wants to see something so stupid as a mans car. Or some Aussie story about the dumb love he and his friends have for it.WTF??? More Wolverine please!!! xxx
Eric Bana's accent is incredibly annoying.