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What We Do in the Shadows

What We Do in the Shadows

So many comedies are adoringly billed as “dark”, forgetting the ancient showbusiness maxim, “dark is easy; funny is hard”. Fortunately, this mockumentary from New Zealand succeeds in being both: in fact, it’s the best comedy of the year.

What We Do in the Shadows is directed by its stars Jemaine “Flight of the Conchords” Clement and Taika Waititi, who in 2005 was Oscar-nominated for his short film Two Cars, One Night.

A group of vampires share a house in Wellington, squabbling about the washing up and facing off with a rival gang of werewolves, à la Twilight. The rigour with which their hideous and crepuscular world is imagined, combined with the continuous flow of top-quality gags, makes this a treat from first to last. After a while, I was embarrassed at myself for giggling so much.

Our heroes are undead gentlemen from central Europe who have escaped problems and heartache in the old country to live in New Zealand. They bite a faintly annoying guy, who duly turns into a vampire and wants to hang out with them, and he brings along his best mate, a really nice non-vampire human bloke called Stu: all the vampires get a bromance crush, holding back from biting him and he is the Bella Swan of this story.

But this film reminded me of something else: it is the comedy version of Abel Ferrara’s 1995 The Addiction. I can’t say fairer than that.

— Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

What We Do in the Shadows

Fri & Sat March 6 & 7, 2015, 7:30 only, Muenzinger Auditorium

New Zealand, 2014, English, Color, 86 min, DP, 1.85:1, NR • official site

recommend

Tickets

10 films for $60 with punch card
$9 general admission. $7 w/UCB student ID, $7 for senior citizens
$1 discount to anyone with a bike helmet
Free on your birthday! CU Cinema Studies students get in free.

Parking

Pay lot 360 (now only $1/hour!), across from the buffalo statue and next to the Duane Physics tower, is closest to Muenzinger. Free parking can be found after 5pm at the meters along Colorado Ave east of Folsom stadium and along University Ave west of Macky.

RTD Bus

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Established 1955 by Carla Selby, Gladney Oakley, Bruce Conner and Stan Brakhage.

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Celebrating Stan

Created by Suranjan Ganguly in 2003.

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Established 2017 by Chair Ernesto Acevedo-Muñoz.

Thank you, sponsors!
Boulder International Film Festival
Department of Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts

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