This is our 250th post! Woo! That’s a hell of a lot of posts, and even if you’re a fan of the site, you probably haven’t read all of them. So, here’s a list of some posts that have slipped through the cracks and don’t have as many views as some others, but are great and certainly worth checking out:
Proposed Double Feature: ‘The 400 Blows’ & ‘The Creature Who Walks Among Us’ | by John D’Amico
They Came Together (2014)
Directed by David Wain
Written by David Wain & Michael Showalter
83 min.
You don’t need a review from me of They Came Together—it’s great, it’s hilarious, go watch it. I saw it two nights ago and I plan to see it again pretty soon. It’s just too damn good.
Surprisingly, it has a 68% on Rotten Tomatoes. I don’t mean that I was expecting it to have a higher rating—quite the opposite, since some of the cleverest and most subversive comedies of the last twenty years have very low ratings: Freddy Got Fingered, MacGruber, Hell Baby, The Brothers Solomon, The Goods, The Wrong Guy, Reno 911: Miami, Nacho Libre, even Step Brothers. The list goes on—those were just ones off the top of my head. Oh, and toss two of David Wain’s previous films on that list too, while you’re at it: Wet Hot American Summer and The Ten.
The culprit seems to be that most critics don’t try and understand comedies like they do dramas. It doesn’t occur to them that maybe the reason they’re not laughing isn’t because the jokes aren’t funny, but because they don’t get them. These hypocrites don’t see their own sense of humor as a brain muscle in need of toning, whereas they’ll spend their whole lives consciously strengthening their understanding of ‘mise en scéne’ or ‘auteurship’ or ‘symoblism’ or ‘dialectics’ or ‘semiotics’ or whatever.
Continue reading A Review of a Review of ‘They Came Together’
A close friend of mine committed suicide this past Monday. Someone I loved dearly and always felt like family. The last time I saw her was about a year ago, and it was wonderful—we had a great time together. It was the most perfect last memory of her that I could ever ask for.
This review is for her. One of the many things we shared was a deep love for this movie. I can’t begin to make sense of her passing, but I can at least write this piece. She’d be pleased to know it was out there.
Continue reading ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’: Just Watch It Already
I stumbled on this movie while browsing my local library’s new releases online. The title piqued my interest, so I Googled it and found the trailer above.
I need to see this movie.
Greg DeLiso and and I are always on the hunt for the next great unintentional comedies for us to fall in love with and quote incessantly to each other. We’ve delved far beyond famous ones like The Room, Troll 2, and Birdemic: Shock and Terror—our favorites include lesser-known gems such as My Streets, Little Marines 1 & 2, and Breakout: Batteries Not Included. Few have ever heard of them, but they offer as much, if not more laughs than better-known so-bad-it’s-good fare.
It appears nobody has discovered Turkles yet, as is so often the case with a lot of these movies. It’s an untapped genre that people assume consists of only a handful, but really there are tons that are hilarious.
Here’s a video with more weird clips from Turkles. The person who put it together clearly didn’t do so because they saw humor—I think it’s just a highlight reel for one of the actresses—but it plays like a greatest hits of awkward Turkles moments:
Continue reading ‘Turkles’: A Movie That Looks Amazing
As many of you know, my mom passed away recently from stage 4 breast cancer, and my family has a fundraiser up to help pay for her medical bills, memorial, and all sorts of other costs that have crept up during the six months my family and I have been caring for her.
Starting today and until the campaign is over, if you donate $25 or more, I will send you a special Smug Film goodie package that will contain:
– A numbered and laminated Smug Film Fan Club membership card (Signed and personalized—these will be numbered based on who donates first, so if you want to be our very first member, donate right away!)
– A shout out, and plug of anything you want plugged, on a future episode of the Smug Film podcast
– My film Rehearsals on DVD (Signed and personalized)
– A 4×6 postcard of the Rehearsals poster (Signed and personalized)
– A printed copy of a Smug Film article of mine of your choice (Signed and personalized)
– And much more! (Fun stuff, trust me)
Here’s the link to donate: http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/love-and-happiness-for-annie-/179118/
Just forward your email confirmation for donating to the campaign to Cody@SmugFilm.com, along with your mailing address. I’ll get your goodie package out to you before the campaign has ended.
Thanks!