A short film Noah Baumbach made in 2000, Conrad And Butler Take A Vacation, was included on the Criterion edition of Kicking and Screaming. Variety was not pleased with this story of two buddies, one damaged from his divorce, getting annoyed and drunk on some sofas: "with grade-Z production values, this esome lark serves only one purpose: It proves just how far Baumbach has come."
I don't think it's that bad, though, kind of carefully written, in fact. The short's on YouTube, broken up into three 10-minute parts. At the moment, Part 1 has about 700 views. Part 2: 300, and Part 3: 250.
This vote-with-your-eyes data feels like a more useful assessment than Variety's snark, especially if everyone who started watching was looking for Baumbach or Wes Anderson in the first place. [via coudal]
