The Projectors

It’s gonna be a rough year. It’s already pretty shitty. We’re just a few months in and we’re stumbling towards a Presidential election so it’s definitely going to get worse so we thought that for this dreary year we should discuss a dozen Lars von Trier movies before it’s all over. Like strange frosting on a sad cake, Lars just boosts the melancholy and vague sense of dread. He loves trilogies as well. We’ve finished the Europa trilogy and now it’s time for the “Golden Hearts Trilogy” which kicks off one of von Trier’s most acclaimed works. Small town Northern Britain sure sucks, especially if you’re under the thumb of a fundamentalist Calvinist sect that will send your cousin to hell for getting his ears pierced. Bess falls in love with an outsider and things just might be fine until her husband, Jan, becomes paralyzed. Poor Jan has some suggestions on how to keep their physical relationship alive that draws the ire of the religious and modern world but Bess, trained in her devotion, piously goes forward with God on her side. We’re talking about the 1996 film “BREAKING THE WAVES” starring Emily Watson in an amazing performance as well as Stellan Skarsgård & Katrin Cartlidge. This might be as upbeat as it gets for our year-long theme. Which is kind of fucked up to think about.
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It’s time for our final entry in April’s theme of AWKWARD LAUGHTER 2: THE FLOP in which we reexamine box office comedy flops and their status in the film zeitgeist today. This final conversation is of a movie that is far from awful and pretty creative but also profoundly sad. Maybe that’s the reason the lip service around this movie is so minimal but it certainly rises above many other comedy films during this time. We’re talking about Andrew Fleming’s 2008 film about a drama teacher who has failed at all of his dreams and must put on one last, original, performance before this drama department at a Tucson high school shuts down for good. “Hamlet 2” didn’t seem like the vehicle to launch Steve Coogan into a boisterous Hollywood career but we still like the guy and his history of creative output. This fairly dark comedy also stars Joseph Julian Soria, Catherine Keener, Elisabeth Shue, David Arquette and more. Can Dana Marscz(?) finally transcend to the next level of his dream and get the respect of his very bitter wife? You can see his dick and balls for a second. 
 
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It’s time for our final entry in April’s theme of AWKWARD LAUGHTER 2: THE FLOP in which we reexamine box office comedy flops and their status in the film zeitgeist today. This final conversation is of a movie that is far from awful and pretty creative but also profoundly sad. Maybe that’s the reason the lip service around this movie is so minimal but it certainly rises above many other comedy films during this time. We’re talking about Andrew Fleming’s 2008 film about a drama teacher who has failed at all of his dreams and must put on one last, original, performance before this drama department at a Tucson high school shuts down for good. “Hamlet 2” didn’t seem like the vehicle to launch Steve Coogan into a boisterous Hollywood career but we still like the guy and his history of creative output. This fairly dark comedy also stars Joseph Julian Soria, Catherine Keener, Elisabeth Shue, David Arquette and more. Can Dana Marscz(?) finally transcend to the next level of his dream and get the respect of his very bitter wife? You can see his dick and balls for a second. 
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Contact us here: MOVIEHUMPERS@gmail.com
Check our past & current film ratings here: https://moviehumpers.wordpress.com
Hear us on podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/6o6PSNJFGXJeENgqtPY4h7
Our OG podcast “Documenteers”: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/documenteers-the-documentary-podcast/id1321652249
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We’re headed down the final stretch of our month’s theme of AWKWARD LAUGHTER 2: THE FLOP in which we reexamine some box office comedy disasters and see how they’ve held up over time. In the cases of “Ishtar” and “Freddy Got Fingered” we perhaps overlooked some quality filmmaking at the time. “Worst” label? We can honestly say that no movie we’ve discussed for the month belongs on any “worst” list…except maybe this one. We’ve never seen the comedic Dana Carvey family flick from 2002 called “The Master of Disguise” directed by Perry Andelin Blake up until we scheduled it for the show. It’s reputation of being terrible, and it’s strange urban lore surrounding 9/11, are most of what we’ve heard. We didn’t even know this was a kids movie. Or, at least, a movie for dumb kids. This might be for infants, actually. Another thing we didn’t know? The box office sales more than doubled the budget. It’s technically a “hit” but we just assumed it tanked like the other selections we’ve discussed this month. Critically, it ate shit but it didn’t seem to lose money. All these other flops we discussed dragged careers based on their box office and they all range from “not bad” to “actually great” but the worst fucking movie we’re discussing all month long actually made some profit. His name is Pistachio Disguisey for fucks sake. And that turtle scene. God help us.
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For this month’s theme of AWKWARD LAUGHTER 2: THE FLOP we’re discussing some comedies that didn’t quite hit at the box office and it’s no surprise that some of our selections have tumultuous histories during production and post-production. Today’s discussion involves a bit of ego swinging in the editing room that left the creators involved with a bitter aftertaste. On top of that, studio executive shuffling led to this movie not even getting a theatrical release. Our “straight to VHS/DVD” discussion this month is a 2002 Troy Miller directed comedy that spun out of David Cross and Bob Odenkirk’s influential HBO sketch show “Mr. Show”. Bob and David don’t hold it in high regard in light of the fact that they were shut out of final edit. By some accounts they were relieved that “RUN RONNIE RUN!” didn’t lose more money in the theaters with a proper marketing budget. The rest of America got what they got and they probably got it out of a bargain bin at a Hollywood Video in 2004. It was right up the alley of our younger, drunker, stoner selves but could this “cult classic” have been something more? Pretty easy to find. Here’s a good link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v03ldhD7k-c and here’s a little backstory on the fallout of the project from Bob Odenkirk in 2004: https://web.archive.org/web/20070607210342/http://www.bobanddavid.com/interviews.asp?artID=116
 
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We’re discussing a lot of box office misses this month for our theme of AWKWARD LAUGHTER 2: THE FLOP but our unofficial mascot for Awkward Laughter is the one and only Jerry Lewis who made a lot of money in movies for a long time. We’re examining a smidgen of Mr. Lewis’s nutty career in three movies this month and we’ve hit the final of that trilogy in the zany 1964 comedy “The Disorderly Orderly” directed by Frank Tashlin and starring the ultimate chaos god, Jerry Lewis. Classic vaudeville slapstick and Looney Tunes (some of which also directed by Tashlin) paved the way to Jerry Lewis and this film embodies those roots more than any Lewis feature we’ve discussed so far. Jerome Littlefield has a condition that makes working at a hospital the worst idea but we know what he’s really there for. He’s God’s punishment sent down to destroy the greedy hospital owner, Mr. Tuffington. Yes, Jerry Lewis is pretty much a reality warping deity of some sort who is too dumb to know that’s what he is. There are plenty of “miracles” that occur in this film that back up that theory. We will never see Jerry Lewis movies the same ever again. Also starring Susan Oliver, the green lady from Star Trek who is stalked by the chaos god. This is some scary shit if you really think about it.
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That damie stays my hammie. Forever sine on the cappa pane. Sada tay. If you think you know what that meant then you’re likely in a very specific age range. For April’s theme of AWKWARD LAUGHTER 2: THE FLOP we’re reexamining some comedies that didn’t do very well at the box office but have managed to find a little bit of cult appreciation since their release. Today’s talk is like a few selections this month in that its spins out of some solid sketch comedy background. This character was introduced on The Chris Rock Show and it got the green light for a feature film directed by none other than Louis “Look at me rub my weiner” C.K. who wrote for The Chris Rock Show and created “POOTIE TANG” the hero of the 2001 comedy of the same name. It was alleged to originally be called “POOTIE TANG IN SINE YOUR PITTY ON THE RUNNY KINE” for theatrical release. The characters are rich and fun but making movies is hard and post-production can really hurt a film project. This may be the case as C.K. claimed to have been released from the project after shooting. The editing in this movie is…fucking rough. Can the inherent charm overcome the final execution? We will let you know if you just play the damn episode. Sada Tay.
 
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For April’s theme of AWKWARD LAUGHTER 2: THE FLOP we examine the cult status of some movies that weren’t quite commercial successes in their day and while today’s discussion wasn’t considered an initial success, it did manage to get past the finish line in both financial success and long term it may have defied initial critical reactions. Panned almost entirely across the critical realms upon release (with some notable exception) the only directed feature film by Canadian comedian Tom Green has often worn the albatross of a “worst movie ever” ranking by many, but Tom Green doesn’t mind the albatross. He might just hump it, masturbate it and wear it around. You know damn well we’re talking about “FREDDY GOT FINGERED” from 2001. A now legendary film starring Tom Green, Rip Fucking Torn, Marisa Coughlan and more. Decades have passed and upon reflection, many have cited this movie as a true underrated classic. The contrast between its modern examination and initial reaction upon release seems more and more apart. Is it really one of the “worst movies” or is it a display of surreal and absurd genius the likes of which so rarely manifest in such a pure form? Movies like this are what this month is all about. 
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Our theme is called AWKWARD LAUGHTER 2: THE FLOP but not every comedy selection is a flopper this month. For some vintage comedic studies we turn to three movies by the iconic Jerry Lewis and in our second Lewis feature the studios have the utmost faith in Jerry because they built for him a four story dollhouse that encompasses two sound stages. You gotta give Jerry Lewis credit, he managed to direct a visually nice looking film with a stunning set all for a 90 minute humiliation fetish display. Yeah, we said it. Don’t even bother questioning our media literacy. You’re all turnips compared to our analytical prowess when it comes to film and we have come to know that the Jerry Lewis directed and starring feature “THE LADIES MAN” from 1961 is a true showcase in kinkery. He’s nutty all right. Busting nutties. The film also stars Helen Traubel, Kathleen Freeman, Buddy Lester & Pat Stanley. Herbert H. Heebert experiences “Repulsion” around women so of course he has to work in a building with dozens of them and help them rehearse and not be depressed all while getting hosed down with milk. Your freaky ass might like this movie. I bet you’re chubbing right now.
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Some of the comedies we’re discussing for this month’s theme “AWKWARD LAUGHTER 2: THE FLOP” are movies that maybe missed the mark after some high expectations but even with Adam Sandler’s hitmaking comedy pedigree, $85 million seemed like a quite a bit of money for any comedy film. Maybe even a lot by today’s standards. Most movies would be ecstatic to make a $53 million box office but studios had higher expectations for the 2000 Adam Sandler comedy “Little Nicky” directed by Steve Brill. Sandler would quickly get his box office groove back for his next few films but this flick about the very nice son of the Devil (Harvey Keitel) who must stop his demon brothers from making hell on earth maybe doesn’t rank very high on the lists of Sandler fans. Is this really a bloated bomb or is this as good, if not better, than any Adam Sandler flick? We thought about discussing “Jack & Jill” for the month but it turns out that movie actually exceeded its budget. Somehow.
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All April long is AWKWARD LAUGHTER 2: THE FLOP in which we examine comedies that were not very commercially successful in their day and check in to see how they hold up many years later. This is a month of what many would call underrated cult classics and today’s discussion embodies that pretty well. We discuss a commercial disaster whose life on basic cable integrated itself into a classic black & gay cult film status. Of course we’re talking about Robert Townsend’s 1997 comedy “B.A.P.S” starring Halle Berry, Natalie Desselle, an incredibly happy looking Martin Landau and Ian Richardson. There is actually some heart and spirit in this film that could definitely find an emotional connection but then there’s everything else. This half-baked “plot” gets weirdly deflated. It’s a mess but we hang on to what little joy it can provide even if it doesn’t seem to be trying very hard. All that nephew had to do was nothing. Literally nothing.
 
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