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All of our favorite comedians phone it in for the paycheck once and a while. We can look the other way when Will Ferrell slums it up in loose, runny stool like Bewitched, so long as he's still writing and starring in great stuff like Talladega Nights. Sacha Baron Cohen made Borat: if he wants to pay for a new pool with a shitty cameo in Madagascar, who are we to judge? But what happens when it's not a "phone it in" comedy? What if it's a labor of love? What if the comedian wrote, directed and starred in the thing? What if, essentially, it looked like everyone involved was trying to make a good movie, and it was stool anyway? Well, then you get snarky no-talents like us picking apart your crappy movie in this article, apparently. Read on! 11
School for Scoundrels
(2006)
THE PITCH: Scot Armstrong and Todd Phillips, the writer and director of Old School, reteam for this black comedy! Napoleon Dynamite's Jon Heder gets lessons in self-confidence from Bad Santa's Billy Bob Thornton... but they end up competing for the same girl! THE PAYOFF: Jon Heder and Billy Bob Thornton aren't masters of improvisation. They need a fun, sharp script to play off of, and they don't get it here. In one scene early in the film, for instance, Heder's character gets ambushed by two thugs who threaten to kill him. They then shoot at him while he tries to escape, and rob him after he passes out from a panic attack. Scoundrels wants us to take from this that Heder is a big pussy with no self-confidence-but the scene's played so straight, who wouldn't be fucking terrified in that situation? Welcome to every scene in this movie: mean-spirited, played straight, and about as funny as a guy shooting at you.
Was anyone who liked Old School on the edge of their seats over whether or not the stars would graduate? Scot "Shakespeare" Armstrong and Todd "Bergman" Phillips seem to think we were. Guys-comedies are retarded. When a character slips face-first into a pile of cow shit, we don't need to know which cow it came from. 10
Nothing But Trouble
(1991)
THE PITCH: Dan Aykroyd writes, directs AND stars in a new comedy with John Candy and Chevy Chase! (This was back when then name "Dan Ackroyd" still meant "the guy who wrote Ghostbusters and Blues Brothers," not "that really fat guy playing Britney Spears' dad in Crossroads.")
THE PROBLEM: Aykroyd apparently based the concept of the film around a real-life incident where he was pulled over for speeding in the back woods, then taken in the middle of the night to the mayor's house to be terrorized by hicks. If you're thinking, "That actually sounds kind of unsettling and horrible, and not a good idea for a laugh-romp comedy," you probably would have come in handy patiently explaining this to Aykroyd before he filmed a joyless, Deliverance-like movie about people getting pulled over for speeding in the back woods, then taken in the middle of the night to the mayor's house to be terrorized by hicks. 9
Tenacious D in The
Pick of Destiny (2006)
THE PITCH: the Greatest Band of All Time roars to the big screen in a hilarious musical comedy where they fight The Devil with the awesome power of their rock! Watch for funny cameos from Ben Stiller and Tim Robbins! THE PAYOFF: After an inspired opening musical number involving a young Jack Black, Ronnie James Dio and Meatloaf, you can almost hear Black and co-star Kyle Gass put on the brakes and think, "Shit, that was our only idea." Tenacious D's premise (two fat guys with acoustic guitars think they're heavy metal rock gods) is, while pretty damn funny in short sketches, a bit of a thin idea for a feature-length comedy. Black and Gass figure this out about a half hour in, resorting to tired Cheech and Chong stoner gags to pad out the running time.
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Oh yeah and can we get over the Bill Murray bullshit? the man hasnt been funny or likable in decades. and right, seriously, Lost In Translation is one godawful pile of shit film, its stolen, often out from under Murray and Johansen by Ribisi and that girl from Scary Movie, who are both just infinately more likable than either lead. Not to mention Scarlett Johansson is...she's just ugly. i dont understand the love...she...i mean actually look at her face? i dont see it. i, as many do, love that she's a succesful curvy girl in a skinny hollywood but she has an ugly, ugly face
Yeah dudes, Bowfinger is kind of awesome. Also, right, im sure im in a minority group here but i do not get rhe wes anderson love, at ALL. I've watched the royal tenebaums and nearly concussed myself beating my head on the floor in boredom...i mean i get what he's going for but...the shits not butter. Also, Sascha Baron Cohen can take a flying fuck off the end of a diseased hobo dick, that man is not funny god motherfucking damn it all to fucking hell he's not fucking funny *explodes*
I guess I'm in the minority of liking "Nothing But Trouble", disturbing CAN be funny. Also, it has that humpty rapper guy rap his way out of trouble, how can you not love that? The Pick of Destiny COULD have been funnier, but it was still great. Bowfinger was fantastic... the title says "Should Have Been Awesome (But Weren't) By your own admission Bowfinger is funny and smart- thus it succeeds as a comedy- but you personally find it mean-spirited because the man who made it is successful- thus you deem it a failure? What??
Bowfinger should not be on this list. Explain yourselves.
This list sucks, seriously.
What did I hate most about 'Me, Myself and Irene'? Well other than it's complete lack of actual funny material it follows a largely misleading belief that schizophrenia is a 'Split Personality' disorder. The character actually has DID and if some research had been done before the movie had been made they would know that. Unfortunately it reinforces the flase belief and just plain sucks.
The pick of destiny is a fuckin class movie so u dont know shit about what ur talkin about
I can agree with nearly everything except Quick Change. If you have every lived, or even visited NYC, you can relate... but even so, fencing on bikes with a broom? CLASSIC.
Zoolander was a terrible movie, in part because the characters were so stupid.
This is the worst cracked list ever. You shouldn't write about comedy if you have no idea about it. "These people... they're all, well, unbelievable morons, aren't they? Do you know anybody who talks and acts like this?" Are you saying Zoolander was a bad movie because he was an idiot in the film? I don't know anyone like that in real life either, but that doesn't matter since its a friggen comedy.
Really, Lost in Translation is horrible? And Inda house is awesome? Really? So you're like a mildly retarded 13-year-old?
This list is garbage
Ah, come on, there ae a few things wrong in here. Bowfinger is good. I don't like steve martin, I don't like Eddie Murphy, but I like this movie. Go figure. How "The Life Aquatic" end up on this list ? First of all, this is the movie that saved Bill Murray to be a total idiot in my eyes after that horrible, horrible "Lost in Translation". And Owen Wilson ? This role has been written especially for him, and I am glad. Imagine anyone else instead of Wilson ... I can't. And "Ali G in da House" ? Maybe it's a european thing, but that movie is awesome.
Not quite as useful as "look both ways."
First rule of Hollywood: Everything explodes.
As long as Batman stays home, Robin's all yours.
Superheroes all share a unifying trait: their origins don't actually make an ounce of sense.
The X-Men without the shitty one liners.
Come on, some were trying to be funny!
Children are stupid. Let's laugh at them.
Musicians are even dumber than you thought.
The 4th of July. "Independence Day." "The Big Easy." The day the entire planet gets together to put aside our differences and bond over our common love of fireworks and professional baseball. It's ...
Los Angeles: Home To Movie Stars, The Wayans Brothers, And Me
Wall-E: The Touching Tale Of An Aging Gay Robot
mc_ezeemac
Great list, guys. I pretty much agree with all of your picks here (the ones I've seen, anyway). I did enjoy The Life Aquatic, but yeah, it didn't have the same resonance as The royal Tennenbaums. I did love the crew's Speedo + toque outfits, though. I still use that look occasionally. Always a hit with the ladies.