"Wet Hot American Summer"

But I thought the State was pretty lame except for 1 or 2 skits, while I'm an obsessive Kids in the Hall fan.

(haha jus tkidding)

well there you go.

specifically the MONTAGE where COOP tries to get the GIRL.

Is your Mom Prince?

WHAS has some great bits, but like all Michael Showalter-related projects, it feels a bit like a missed opportunity.

these movies that keep on telling us they're "Future Cult Classics!!!!" are hit and miss. this one was just meh-inducing okay. so miss.

Did you get to the scene where they go to town, Alex?

rudd ("andy") keeps losing kids and taking their buddies for a ride off the side of the road... the short dude from the state on the motorcycle trying to catch up with the other dude... the nerds rolling their 20-sided die? i mean, i just don't get how you can't like it.

yes, alex. i don't know you, but over the course of writing this post, i have decided that you ARE, in fact, old.

My favorite part is when the goth girl says "that's just one mixtape!" or something.

Unfortunately I have ended up saying this a lot because of this movie.

yes!!!

n/a otm!!

THE PHONE!! THE FUCKING PHONE!!!

also...Can you get me Lube? For my Pussy!!

The MOVIE so PWNZZZZZ.

these movies that keep on telling us they're "Future Cult Classics!!!!" are hit and miss.

also: paul rudd.

I wouldn't go that far (comedy is probably the one genre I'll settle for "personal preference" in the discussion), but I'd certainly take WHAS-haters' recommendations for the latest shitty Will Ferrel movie with a grain of salt.

• The uppity blonde theater talent-show directress (the one from SNL) spends the entire movie convinced that her Godspell number cast are hideous, amateur dullards that will ruin her whole show. Fast forward to the talent show, and the cast are "awesome." Though the blonde directress spends the entire number looking over her shoulder while playing their piano accompaniment just to scowl at their ineptitude, the audience is clapping and grinning and seemingly having a great time. The number draws to a close and we're building up to that "star is born" moment, and the audience immediately begins booing with sheer disgust at their hideous, amateurish ineptitude!!!

Doesn't even really work when I describe it, but the way the bait and switch is handled is remarkable.

And the gay commitment ceremony in the river (c. 1981!) is awesome.

Donut, PCU is rated juuuuuuuuuuust right.

jeremy piven is the personification of evil, a hundred times worse than Hitler

One of the greatest. It deserves to be in the Comedy Pantheon.

yeah, get it on DVD, then you can watch the whole movie with the Fart Option on! (which i think someone mentioned before)

seriously, this is one of the all-time funnies movies EVER.
also, i havent smoked pot since high school really, but once i did and watched this and i swear to god i thought i was going to die from laughing so hard.

youre missing out if you dont like this movie.
and Coop is hot.

(sidenote, Eddie Izzard is also hysterical to watch while high)

i like the punchline of the whole radio kid plot (when it pans down and the wires aren't plugged into anything).

also did you know it's freaks & geeks guy doing the voice of that kid?

(okay okay i went to the first EVAH midnight screening of this in nyc and as this was before the movie became extremely popular at my school, everyone thought i was a nutcase. this was of course during the first week of freshman year when everyone was still getting to know each other. oops!)

that's obviously why they are booing. it is a jewish camp. (the part when garafolo is calling all the students names)

same here, and that's why i never really bought my friend's explanation, but whatever works for you...

"i don't think so, ronald vonkleinenstein. i really don't think so."

"I want you inside of me."
"What?"
"oh - no, I was just saying "what's up?" from before"

On first viewing, my roommate and I had no idea what to make of the film and the can's line, "I've never told anyone this...but i can suck my own cock. and i do it. a LOT" was what completely sent us over the edge into WTF mode.

but after that wore off and i've watched it a dozen or so times again that line will continually crack me up into oblivion.

people who didn't see this yet, please just go ahead and see it

Still not funny enough.

oh and the day bidet! i just think that bit is classic.
-- g e o f f (gcannon), Wednesday, June 22, 2005 10:28 PM (3 years ago)

no memory of this bit now

gene is the best character in the history of cinema

I saw Michael Showalter @ Foxwoods playing poker last week! I did not attempt to bro down or dap because A) he was just coming from the bathroom, B) I didn't want to stalk him to his higher-stakes table and C) I was probably busy getting my aces cracked. Supposedly, Michael Ian Black was also there.

I will go again this weekend, in the hopes of seeing Thomas Lennon or Ken Marino.

Alex was correct in his first post. Fucking terrible film.

this may be the funniest movie.

Is there a thread somewhere for "The Ten"?

i didn't think this was very funny at all

This is alright, but PCU was funnier

janeane garofalo in film = big red flag

what is wrong with you people?

also i've watched this movie on more dates, for some reason. including one with a girl who had a WHAS-themed party and still had a "camp firewood" sign in her living room.

Love this, and pretty much everyone involved other than Garafolo (but she's good here).

I liked this movie when I was 18. I'm afraid to see it again now.

there is a strong likelihood that i have watched this movie more than any other movie. ever.

a friend of mine went to an outdoor screening of this and ran into paul rudd and took many photos.

^^^in williamsburg^^^

was this two nights ago at mccarren pool?

yeah, i also went to that

butthurt in the most literal sense of the word afterwards :(

I was intrigued to see this by the above, but seeing the european poster I now really want to see it. Is that a bit of skylab falling from the sky?!

http://www.cinecultist.com/archives/wethotposter.jpg

oops...

http://www.cinecultist.com/archives/wethotposter.jpg

yes that is a bit of skylab.

did you people that hate this movie enjoy "Anchorman?"

I was ambivalent toward both.

Another poster - this one has skylab on it. So what's the deal with skylab falling on a summer camp and why isn't it mentioned in the first poster? Or would that spoil the ending? (seems unlikely).

http://us.movies1.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/hv/allposters/24/1804398724p.jpg

I didn't hate this movie but Anchorman is funnier. WHAS is just sorta shapeless, with the occasional funny bit/sketch popping up.

just watch the movie for god's sake

honestly I would rather just watch Little Darlings or Meatballs or any of the other half-dozen movies this is purportedly parodying

x-post

totally an O_O moment seeing det. elliot stabler humping a refrigerator

the first time i saw this i fell asleep and thought it was on some bullshit but i watched it a few weeks ago while drinking beerz and i thought it was a really good time even if i wasn't doing borat/anchorman rofling or anything

Meatballs is okay but it's also pretty sappy

anchorman isn't funny either, except for the 'whore island' line

good times with lil Tatum O'Neal, Christy McNichol, Cynthia Nixon, and shirtless, cutoff-jeans-shorts wearing Matt Dillon

meatballs aged slightly less well than natasha lyonne.

I really do not understand some of you people
anchorman completely blew btw except for tim robbins smoking a pipe in his afro wig dismembering people

milk was a bad choice

I dunno this just seemed like another one of those straight-to-comedy-central movies like the Hebrew Hammer or Waiting - a decent cast, a lazy to nonexistent script, the occasional funny joke and that's about it.

fwiw i dont think shakey is totally offtm even tho i def like whas

I think he's totally offtm.

This movie is great. Comparing it to The Hebrew Hammer and Waiting is a terrible injustice.

sometimes i do not understand what exactly some of you want from your wacky comedy genre.

jokes

rodney dangerfield

wtf who wants comedies to have super tight three act plotting and elegant structures and all that

also CRISTOPHER MELONI IS A LAUGH RIOT esp due to watching this right after watching Oz

Waiting is funnier than Anchorman or WHAS

that is the wrongest thing i've ever read

this is a pretty funny freakin movie, not perfect but hard for me to care

Comedies are supposed to make you laugh. I never understood people taking these movies super seriously... critics destroyed Dirty Work, but man, that movie is funny.

^^^^^ the new cash sitta

lol

dirty work is a piece of shit

Waiting is funnier than Anchorman or WHAS

-- milo z, Thursday, July 10, 2008 4:24 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Link

^^true, if by Waiting you mean Waiting for Guffman

fuck a Christopher Guest

you're BASTARD people

i was too messd up to remember this movie, i'm sorry.

it was college! and dark.

the movie theater was too dark?

the bedroom. the bedroom was dark.

did you people that hate this movie enjoy "Anchorman?"

No. That was terrible too.

a decent cast, a lazy to nonexistent script, the occasional funny joke and that's about it.

^^^this is spot on, and applies to both films.

My Breakfast With Blassie is pretty funny, too.

so much rong on this thread.

this movie is funny. end of story.

if you can't enjoy meloni talking to a can, i can't help you.

dirty work is a piece of shit

-- Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, July 10, 2008 7:09 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

man i thought you were sort of crazy hating on whas but when you say something like this it makes me want to prevent you from ever seeing another movie ever again

that's... oddly hostile

and Shakey knows hostile!

(excelsior-level zing bait; my bad)

I am a man of peace

i was thinking about this on the subway today actually because i can't really understand the hatred this movie inspires and i think it has to do with whether or not you grew up with the state (or sketch comedy in general) - i was like, 12 or 13 when the state was on and it hit me so hard with the funny but then for many years it wasn't on tv even in reruns or available on video (pre-youtube era) so i wonder if maybe people who were either a) in their jaded 20s when the show was on tv or b) not exposed to the show until their 20s because it was hard to come by, maybe never got that it was funny, because it is a juvenile type of comedy. i don't know maybe i am overthinking this.

I was in my jaded 20s when the State was on and saw a few episodes and thought it was horrible - especially when compared to stuff like Kids in the Hall or Mr. Show or hell any other high quality sketch show

and I didn't really consider it juvenile so much as just sort of nonsensical...? like they didn't understand how jokes work?

"I'm gonna dip my balls in it" was kinda funny

i've never seen the state but i love WHAS

oh man i am not fucking with kith but the state was sooo much better than mr. show.

I was a jaded 12-13 year old when The State was on and I was like yeah, this ain't shit compared to KITH, so I'm splitting the difference here. I'd probably like The State more now, but the proliferation of its cast members into a hundred mostly shitty movies/shows (haven't seen WHAS though) has just made me dislike it more in retrospect.

they showed this outdoors in Williamsburg the other night, which is kinda why I figure I don't need to ever see it.

you'd hate it

there's no need to make this whas v. anchorman. i love both of those movies a lot.

if only we could somehow incorporate batman returns into this discussion

what if batman ran a summer camp

Tuomas would've preferred this movie to be a serious examination of the fascistic underpinnings of camp counselorhood

x-post

way to play in traffic, guys

omfg paul rudd was at the w'burg thing??? and i didn't go??? ;_; ;_; ;_;

also the doubletake he does when coop enters is basically the greatest thing put to film.

paul rudd is seriously genius in this role. when he gives janeane garofolo attitude about having to clean up after himself?

i loved the State but i plan never to see this movie

yay for you

ha, just watched that on youtube. "i just got...i don't have time right now"

yay for you

i'm glad you agree!

gabbneb, why on earth do you gotta come on a thread to announce your utter disinterest in its topic? are you that bored at work?

I think gabb is trying to horn in on Snrub's racket (which is pretty ballsy)

gabballs

the funny thing is i hadn't seen a single state sketch before i saw this movie (i didn't really start watching mtv with any kind of regularity until after it was canceled). i've since changed that but i'm pretty sure there's a separate thread for just discussion of the state

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND7yJ7sMosk

i love the way he flings himself around!

"we're all going to be in our late 20's by then, i don't see any reason why we can't be places on time."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzkaS4uCOls

car crash cheap lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isX3YH_0TQo

I mean, I get why some people hate this movie. Many of the punchlines seem so lazy and stupid that it almost seems like the movie is actually satirizing comedy or something.

and failing, I mean.

But I dunno. It's and American Movie are the only two movies in the last decade or so that make me laugh consistently the whole way through.

It's It

does morbs know about the touching gay sex scene?

I am somewhat surprised that n/a has never seen The State.

Actually, I never saw it when it was originally on, but we passed around a warped VHS tape in college with some State episodes on it.

"i don't care that you're bowlegged, and i don't care that you're bilingual!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgHiB8HYUyc

the laziness bugged a lot of critics (fucking KIDS aren't even TRYING they're just HANGING OUT), but, a la mr. paul rudd flinging himself about, it's great at taking nothing situations and making them funny

It's not so much the gay sex scene that's awesome, but the scene where their friends find out about their relationship, make like they're going to fag-bash them, howl "We've got something for you!" and then cart in a chaise lounge as a wedding gift.

tons more subversive than, I dunno, Brokeback.

to be honest, i watched a few state sketches on youtube last year but i don't really remember them and i never watched the show when it was on (no cable) and i haven't seen it on dvd or anything

quit trying to make this movie important

the state blew my mind at the time, but yeah it was kind of right place right time re: (young) age and (non)exposure to other stuff

i have to say that hearing "nation of ulysses plays pretty for baby" a few years later in college and hearing where those samples came from was kind of exciting and nostalgic

wait, what? I never knew there was an NOU/State connection....?

The opening sequence was set to "Boys and Girls – Action" by Craig Wedren of Shudder To Think and Eli Janney of Girls Against Boys. The song is built around a sample of the Nation of Ulysses song "The Kingdom of Heaven Must Be Taken By Storm".

(it's the "ALL THE GIRLS GATHER ROUND" and "ACTION ACTION" vocal bits)

lol xp, just c+p'd that

hmm kinda third-hand there. (NOU miles better than both those bands anyway imho)

this movie kind of rolls along being mildly funny until the FUCKING AWESOME TRAINING SEQUENCE.

I would almost go as far as to say that there is nothing in this movie that isn't funny.

there's a few tiny details in this movie that always get me, like the deliberate continuity errors between shots -- for example, when one character is knitting a tiny piece of fabric, the camera cuts away and when it cuts back, there's an entire afghan blanket. or how they use the exact same glass-shattering sound effect three different times throughout the movie.

i gotta say that the campy genre parody stuff and some of the 'zany' non-sequitur comedy are probably the least funny things about this movie, but there's a still a lot to laugh at

the parody stuff is more or less just a pretext to have the silliness unfold in

No-one mentionned the number of 30 rock cast members in this?

who?

I LOVED the state when it was on but watched WHAS a couple days ago and couldn't sit through the whole thing. I feel like it was built up too much. I lasted long enough to watch Stabler hump the fridge and then got bored. It was ok but I don't understand why some people thought it was hysterical.

Small cameos of Judah Friedlander and Jane Krakowski

This movie is HILARIOUS.

But here's what's freaking me out: The image of the DVD in the first post, made in 2004, says "From the director of Role Models," which came out in 2008.

?????????

The image link changed, it used to be the cartoon poster.

Protip: The deleted scenes are the funniest

DO NOT WANT the new cover art.

yeah, lol at pushing elizabeth bands, who i didn;t even remember was in this shit.

ahhh I see xpost. FWIW the original poster is much better.

Everyone who likes this movie should check out the series Stella, which stars director David Wain, and actors Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter. It's available on DVD.

I like those guys, but Stella was UNfunny.

Maybe they learned a lesson and Michael & Michael will be good, but I'm skeptical.

otoh, THE STATE dvd comes out next month! Finally!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND7yJ7sMosk

so classic

ok so i got the state box set... never seen it before, what of it should i watch? sketch dates soooo badly, i'm worried about jumping right in

watch it all, dip your balls in it.

everyone who likes this movie should not check out the movie The Ten. I saw some of it on showtime recently. Not their funniest stuff.

so rong

IT WAS A GOOF!

I've had a copy of The Ten someone gave me three months ago that I still haven't watched yet. Good grief, I'm lazy.

guilty of sloth

lol

IT WAS A GODDAMN GOOF!!!

I think Wain was the powerhouse in Stella

I like those guys, but Stella was UNfunny.

I didn't like Stella on Comedy Central, but "Stella Shorts" is amazing.

Stella was UNfunny

so much rong on this thread ffs

Michael & Michael is pretty boring, I think.

too bad. didn't look great from the trailers but i want to like it.

watched the first ep last night and it was pretty lol-less, apart from the ending.

love that amazon has updated that gif on the top, so that it looks like "From The Director Of Role Models" was being hawked on the box four years before the movie was released.

david wain does seem to be the common denominator for all their best work though, huh

Yeah, too bad. I liked Stella quite a bit. (But I will still watch.)

weird: I was just randomly talking about this movie approximately 45 minutes ago!

"randomly talking about" = "singing the song from the training montage while getting dressed"

I watched the pot buy episode of Michael & Michael last night (forgot to watch the debut last week) and I was laughing consistently through the whole thing. Maybe I'm just an easier mark?

it's a great karaoke song

Maybe I'm just an easier mark?

Maybe you have more joy in your heart than I do!

: )

they're screening this movie in brooklyn this wknd

Wet Hot American Summer (2001)—“Can Of Vegetables”

HJB: I auditioned for another part in that movie; I was friends with those guys. I didn’t get it—it went to A.D. Miles. The best story there is that they recorded a scratch track—not the official movie version of it—to use as a template before. Then we went back in to record the polished version, just applying the same lines to picture. We had come up with the line about me sucking my own dick; I think I just said that, we were fucking around and I had said it on the scratch track version. And they were like, “You gotta say that, let’s leave it in.” So I was recording it, doing the line different ways, and David Wain and Michael Showalter got a phone call. They left, and it was just me and the audio engineer. There was this awkward waiting, and he pushed the button and said, “Hey man, really funny stuff.” I said, “Yeah, it’s really funny.” “Yeah, except for the thing about sucking your own dick. I mean, a can wouldn’t say that. I don’t wanna take over the process, but, uh, if you’re cool, you should say stuff like—I jotted down some ideas, and I bet those guys would love it.” I was playing along, like, “Yeah, that would be a huge help! I don’t wanna say this! It doesn’t make sense! A can is an inanimate object!” And the guy’s like, “I know! That’s why I was thinking you should make it funny! Like, you should say, ‘I stew my own vegetables a lot.’” I can’t remember what he said, but it was something that was like—geez, the lamest. And I was like, “Oh that’s great!”

Then the guys walked back in: “Sorry Jon. Alright Peter, let’s do another one.” [Laughs.] And I was like, “Well, listen, I stew my own vegetables all the time.” David Wain and Michael Showalter go, “What are you doing?” “I just think it’s funnier to say I stew my own vegetables than suck my own dick.” “Why?” “Because it’s a can.” “No…definitely say suck your own dick.” It was this totally waste-of-time argument that I was doing. I was like, “Yeah, whatever, I’ll say suck my own dick, but—I dunno, stew your own vegetables is pretty funny.” “No, that’s not funny at all.” We were overtly insulting this guy, who was sitting there grimacing. They never knew about it.

After, the [engineer] guy was like, “Those guys were assholes.” And I said, “Yeah, no shit.”

http://www.avclub.com/articles/h-jon-benjamin,51327/2/

How is it that the picture at the top of the thread says "From the director of Role Models" when that didn't come out until 2008??

I loved this movie; I thought it was pretty great how the directors just kind of threw a bunch of bizarre things in the scenary or in the costumes to make the film look a lot sloppier than it really was. Like it would be raining, then it would cut and it would be clear, then raining again. It's really more of a collection of skits than an actual movie (I can barely remember the actual plot) but it was great overall. Surprised how many of those guys wound up becoming stars since this was basically box office poison.

love that amazon has updated that gif on the top, so that it looks like "From The Director Of Role Models" was being hawked on the box four years before the movie was released.

― da croupier, Thursday, July 23, 2009 5:03 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark

Oh, confusing.

surprised Chris Meloni didn't make the new school cover.

that benjamin story is hilarious

I just watched this. I didn't hate it, I feel kind of warmly towards it, like and have always liked Garofalo and Showalter and Poehler and etc.

But I can't imagine laughing out loud at anything in this movie! And yet it's clear that people do.

I was always very Upright Citizens Brigade >>>>>> The State, so maybe that's my problem. But Poehler didn't make me laugh in this, either.

Or maybe you have to see it when you're 15? Because I'll still rep for "Airplane!" or even "Naked Gun" which similarly deploy these moments of "we're going to put this in because it's wacky and it's so wacky you'll laugh even though there's not, per se, a joke." i.e. I'm not sure I can make an objective case that "Excuse me sir, I speak jive" is a knee-slapper and the can that sucks its own dick is not, but to me, the first is funny and the second is just random.

it's not that the can sucks its own dick it's that it does it a lot do u see

http://the-toast.net/2013/11/07/foreshadowing-wet-hot-american-summer/

well I guess I have to watch this again now

Anchorman was such a stupid and unfunny movie. I remember sitting through it with this weird feeling like wow comedy filmmakers have just completely given up. Like let's not even think of a title for this movie let's just call it "Anchorman". Let's just be as generic as possible here. I think a year later I saw another WF movie about him joining a basketball team or something and like Anchorman I didn't laugh a single time. I think most of the humor has to do with how inherently funny the idea of 70s/80s mustaches are. Which is not really at all.

you are wrong in so many specific ways!

1. This is not the Anchorman thread.

I look forward to your opinions on Stepbrothers, a movie about stepbrothers.

whas is a seriously unfunny collection of shitty sketches

anchorman is very funny indeed and is a real proper movie with scenes and shit

idk why you'd even bring anchorman up on the whas thread unless u especially hated whas and needed to bring anchorman up just to make the former look even shittier than it is (which is really shitty)

I stand by my posts in this thread.

I have softened a bit on Michael Showalter over the years, that dude is funny.

i don't remember anything about this movie except hating it... wonder if i've even ever seen the whole thing

xp Michael Ian Black's Twitter is always good for some A+ trollery.

this placed #29 in our 100 Comedy Films of All Time poll so its way overrated here for some reason

I've seen WHAS at least twenty times. :)

it appears to have taken quite the toll

DO SOMETHING!

or get the FUCK off the stage!

You taste like a burger. I don't like you anymore.

I'm so old that FUCKING JESUS CHRIST was my camp counselah

Arts and FARTS and crafts.

actually the best bit is when Joe Lo Truglio briefly, for all of three seconds, has an insane mullet haircut, and then the camera cuts away and back and his hair is normal again

this is the greatest movie of all time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Joxz7qTpSfw

Never not funny.

"Day by daaaaaay, day by daaaaaay, oh dear Lord, three things I praaaaaaay."

*enthusiastic clapping*

[song ends]

*silence*

"BOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiBi0xMF9UY

the way Showalter says "Day B' Day" makes me lose my shit everytime

I always imagine how much kinkier a night bidet would be.

Like let's not even think of a title for this movie let's just call it "Anchorman".

There is a classic comedy set on an airplane called "Airplane!" so who fucking cares about something like this.

"Day by daaaaaay, day by daaaaaay, oh dear Lord, three things I praaaaaaay."

*enthusiastic clapping*

[song ends]

*silence*

"BOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

I love this scene especially since it's a microcosm of the movie as a whole. In addition to all the continuity errors detailed in that link it seems like every character's personality changes from scene to scene

I was loving the movie just fine up to that specific point, but it was when that booing started that I knew it was all-time on my wavelength.

i always thought they started booing bc of the cross. it has been my experience that jews who would boo at a cross would happily sing along to day by day.

I think they mentioned that in the commentary track; it was an unintended alternate interpretation.

In this movie, it makes more sense when it doesn't make sense.

ha i always assumed it was the cross too

This could easily turn into another "That's where I'm a viking" debate, huh.

well if someone was actually arguing fact rather than just saying what they assumed

lol i just looked this up cos i'm totally unfamiliar w/ the musical

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godspell

In the film Wet Hot American Summer, "Day by Day" is performed at the camp talent show. At first, the other campers enjoy the performance, but at the end of the song, booing ensues when an image of the cross appears behind the performers. In the DVD commentary for the film, director David Wain noted that the booing was not directed at the cross but rather at the performance itself.

that's amazing that they accidentally threw in another "don't forget this is a jewish camp" joke

Absurdism, bad taste. Two of my favorite comedic flavor profiles. Good joke.

Always assumed the cross was thrown in at the end to show just how insanely professional and amazing their performance was supposed to be for a camp talent show, thus making the sudden shift to "OMG, you guys suck so bad!" all the more surprising.

iirc i think that was my assumption initially, but that my wife (a vet of jewish summer camps) gave me the alternate explanation, which fit with the roll call scene and others

i guess it's sort of like how one mishears gibberish in songs to fit your personal logic

Where does the gay wedding in the river bed fit into the '80s Jewish summer camp experience?

i didn't attend jewish summer camp in the 80s (i did in the 90s) but fake weddings were not an unknown thing (tho iirc mostly among younger campers), and nascent support for gay relationships was also presence. ymmv, take w/ grain of salt, it probably has nothing to do w/ the '80s jewish summer camp experience, etc.

it's just a great example of the audience finding a fairly logical reason for a moment that was apparently designed to be illogical - and makes me wonder how much the other jewish summer camp bits were an afterthought to the basic "parody of summer camp" movies premise, if they missed that context clue here

i mean believable as it is, it's notable if they could have a jewish summer camp audience boo upon seeing a cross, and say "oh we just had them boo because wacky wow whodathunkit, missed that we put a dramatic signifier of Christianity on the stage"

Maybe. The "joke" of Janeane Garofalo's roll call of jewy-sounding names always seemed, to me, that she was clearly making names up for kids that didn't exist.

Such misunderstandings often arise when a lot of pot is smoked on the set.

while i myself haven't had any experience with jewish kids summer camps, i know enough people who have that i don't balk at the possibility that a movie written by two jewish guys about summer camp happens to have elements that play to jewish kid summer camp experience

So what you're saying is that they're lying that the cross wasn't intended to incite mass booing?

I'm sorry if you're genuinely confused. As I've said repeatedly, I believe them. It's ironic they missed the obvious joke (David Wain always calls Camp Modin, where he went, a "jewish" summer camp in interviews about the movie, so I don't believe all Jewish summer camp references in the film are accidental), but not implausible.

Got it. You prefer the "obvious" joke to the one they intended but, apparently, flubbed.

are you still mad about gravity or something?

http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/157/a/8/wet_hot_american_summer_chase_by_chunkysmurf-d3i7z5m.jpg

Different strokes for different folks, obv, but jewish kids booing a cross isn't as funny to me as kids booing a spectacular musical performance because it sucks.

i don't see where i said one joke was better than the other. i said i had one interpretation (yours) initially, then heard and believed another based on an element i'd be less likely to catch than they were. which is why i found it ironic to learn the first one was what they were going for.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

that a movie that resonates with people who've gone to jewish sleepaway camp has a moment in that vein that the creators didn't even plan for just makes it all even funnier imo

http://deadhomersociety.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/lisathevegetarian5.png

ironically, i prefer the ten because it's even more blatantly just crazy bullshit

Preferring The Ten is definitely just crazy bullshit.

The Ten is a grower. I thought it was mostly pretty lame when I first saw it, but I've come around on subsequent viewings.

if i prefer the ten it's by a small degree - they're both classics imo (and with role models and wanderlust being pretty good, i'd say wain's track record might as good as it gets in comedy these days)

Still haven't seen Role Models yet.

it's way better than this middling crap

That's the sort of hearty recommendation that will send me rushing to stream it.

Only Jerry Lewis should make movies about Jewish kids being sent to camps.

Too soon.

Still haven't seen Role Models yet.

― midnight outdoor nude frolic up north goes south (Eric H.), Friday, November 8, 2013 4:08 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it's way better than this middling crap

― Ayn Rand Akbar (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, November 8, 2013 4:09 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

http://www.reactiongifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/machine-gun.gif

Role Models is so so great, I only wish my hatred for Stifler wouldn't have kept me away from it for as long as it did.

http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view5/2686076/kenny-powers-o.gif

*ALERT*ALERT*ALERT*ALERT*ALERT*ALERT*ALERT*ALERT*ALERT*ALERT*ALERT*ALERT*ALERT*ALERT*ALERT

Netflix in Talks for ‘Wet Hot American Summer’ TV Series

Cult classic “Wet Hot American Summer” could finally make its long-awaited resurrection courtesy of Netflix, according to sources.

The 2001 comedy, which boasted a who’s who of up-and-coming comedic stars playing campers at fictional Camp Firewood, may be turned into a 10-episode prequel for the streaming service.

Netflix declined to comment.

Executive produced by the movie’s creators, David Wain and Michael Showalter, the serialized “Wet Hot” would seek to reunite many of the original cast members who would play high-school-age characters despite the fact many of the actors are currently in their 40s.

yes plz

original cast members who would play high-school-age characters despite the fact many of the actors are currently in their 40s.

omg yes this has to happen

I want Zak Orth to look just like his "Revolution" character.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-mp0q2vv98RU/UFN8KgbXMpI/AAAAAAAABW0/Uz2mg4kHkUc/s270/Aaron.jpg

oh man hell yeah and bring back H John Benjamin

http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/2012/specials/hunger-games/celeb-fans/elizabeth-banks-660.jpg

I hope Bradley Cooper and Michael Ian Black are still together.

http://popwatch.ew.com/2014/11/18/what-if-martin-scorsese-directed-wet-hot-american-summer-this-would-happen/

Was "They Came Together" discussed somewhere else on ILX? I laughed harder watching that than any other movie this year

It definitely had its moments. The sex scene had me rolling.

been curious about that one...

It reminded me a lot of Wet Hot, more than Wain's other films.

They Came Together is really good

I laughed.

I knew this was gonna be good as soon as the "I'm sorry"/"Apology accepted" exchange happened

http://deadline.com/2015/01/wet-hot-american-summer-netflix-limited-series-original-cast-return-1201342994/

That's nuts!

!

the best news

stock of "this end up" goes through the roof

disreguard that, I misremembered the brand name of the chaise lounge wedding present

i know these things are inevitably disappointing, but i can't help it, i have hope and this makes me very happy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j12pk-IE3D0

David Wain has been delivering pretty consistently since WHAS, as have much of the original cast, so I have a degree of faith in this endeavor.

yeah the movie w/ Rudd, Poehler and Showalter was way better than I expected it to be

They Came Together is great. i'll see anything Wain does, for sure.

newsreaders pretty funny too

lol they put pierce after poehler alphabetically

i was kinda hoping P-Z would be totally out of order after that, which would be a wainish bit of random humor, but no

lol @ basketball shot

https://youtu.be/W6tyKjNsyns

my roommate still works at the jewish summer camp he went to as a kid (hes 30). I will never hear the end of this movie/show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLlMTn_Jzok

I am so excited for this show

same, not even Jon Hamm can dampen my enthusiasm.

Ah, so this is where all of the good ideas went during the last few seasons of Children's Hospital.

ha ha I just noticed the "kids" from the science nerd group are there

Looks like it will be funny as hell.

ha ha I just noticed the "kids" from the science nerd group are there

I must've missed them.

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES

I went to a summer camp for music nerds, and it turns out one of my pals from camp worked on the music for this

xxpost Theres def a shot of the Cure Girl sitting on some steps with the main cast

how is this a good idea?

has there literally been one TV or movie property where "bring it back from oblivion" is anything but http://i.imgur.com/7WOj5.gif

Fury Road

Doctor Who

i haven't seen it but the new mad max got a lot of good reviews

The Colour Of Money?

xpost Fury Road is a movie that has the word 'Mad Max' in it, not like a hot Kickstarter campaign that resulted in 59-year-old Mel Gibson flopping around in the desert

at the very least i think it'll be novel watching these actors reprise these roles + a lot of them are currently involved in funny stuff so they know how to be funny

Toy Story 3

Drunken Master II

I didn't watch the any of the revamps of beloved comedy properties Community or Anchorman or Arrested Development or Dumb and Dumber but it's not exactly like I read any good things about them

Arrested Development S4 is great

still no interest in this meeting of modern noncomedy minds

yea whiney mostly otm like i am not into a new evil dead either no thanks

Don't watch it then Whiney, Jesus. Who gives a fuck.

i don't remember the original movie being funny. maybe I should rewatch it.

It's ok

im very excited for this personally

WHAS is funnier in your memories than it is when you actually watch it, it's true. But the memories are A+.

much like actual summer camp

or shitty '80s summercamp movies

Yup.

poison ivy feat. michael j fox & nancy mckeon is my personal lodestar for televised summer camp hijinks

Little Darlings is my shit

I went to a summer camp for music nerds, and it turns out one of my pals from camp worked on the music for this
― too young for seapunk (Moodles)

i can't stop thinking about how perfect this post is

I didn't watch the any of the revamps of beloved comedy properties Community or Anchorman or Arrested Development or Dumb and Dumber but it's not exactly like I read any good things about them
― lil dork (Whiney G. Weingarten)

AD was decent, Community had some good eps, D&D was stupid in the first place and Anchorman was exactly what you expected and a bit more, I don't see why you'd show disdain for any of these given the source material except maybe AD

D&D was stupid in the first place

yeah that was the point idiot

D&D original movie was great. I thought the prequel was decent, in a movie-rental when you are sick home from school kind of way. Lots of rehashed jokes but they came across as these new actors being affectionate towards the original movie. The sequel was just rehashed jokes made new through mean spirited-ness. Just crass going through the motions with a dose of post-modern "we're out of ideas and we know it wink-wink" self-satisfaction.

Anchorman had a similarly mean-spirited sequel, like someone was hired to modernize the comedy and make it edgy for the inevitable "UNRATED Special Edition DVD".

Rewatching AD right now. It gets better the more I watch it, like the original series. I remember not liking it at all at first cos it focuses more on "oh i see how they did that, that's clever" humor and less LOL humor. At least the AD cast and writers tried to do something new with their second chance.

i remember so little about dumb and dumber that i am now questioning if i ever even saw it. maybe i just saw the entirety of the movie in 20 minute segments on tbs over the course of 10 years

v excited for this Netflix Content

how is this a good idea?
has there literally been one TV or movie property where "bring it back from oblivion" is anything but

I would have felt the same way considering Michael & Michael Have Issues and Wanderlust, which were both not bad but still kinda disappointing. However, They Came Together was really funny and is the first thing Wain & Showalter have written together since nearly 10 years ago. I'm hopeful that the process of collaborating on that movie sparked some momentum and is part of the reason why they decided to continue with a series.

looking at old newspaper/print reviews on rotten tomatoes and man a lot of people really hated this movie. i had no idea.

Ebert's review, in full:

Hello muddah,
Hello fadduh--
Here I am at "Wet Hot American Summah."

Wow I hate it
Something fierce--
Except the astrophysicist David Hyde Pierce.

He lives in a
Cottage nearby
And boy can he make Jeanane Garofolo sigh.

She's the director
Of Camp Firewood,
Which turns before our eyes into Camp Feelgood.

She is funny
As she's hurrying
Through the camper's names, including David Ben Gurion.

She dreams of bunking
David Hyde Pierce,
Who fears a falling Skylab will crush them first.

(Chorus)
Let me leave,
Oh mudduh faddah--
From this comic romp in Mother Nature...
Don't make me stay,
Oh mudduh faddah--
In this idiotic motion picture.

Every camper
And each counselor
Is horny, especially Michael Showalter.

He lusts after
Marguerite Moreau's bod,
But she prefers the lifeguard played by Paul Rudd.

The camp cook,
Chris Meloni,
Goes berserk because he feels attacked by phonies.

He talks to bean cans
And screams and moans
Periodically because of Post-Traumatic Anxiety Syndrome.

(Chorus)
I want to escape,
Oh mudduh faddah--
Life's too short for cinematic torture.
Comedies like this,
Oh mudduh faddah--
Inspire in me the critic as a vulture.

Ben and McKinley
Achieve their fame
As campers whose love dare not speak its name.

Ken Marino
Doesn't go rafting
Prefering Marisa Ryan, who is zaftig.

Watch David Wain's
Direction falter,
Despite the help of co-writer Showalter.

They did The State,
On MTV,
And of the two that is the one you should see.

Thoughts of "Meatballs"
Cruelly hamper
Attempts by us to watch as happy campers.

Allan Sherman
Sang on the telly.
I stole from him, and he from Ponchielli.

Wet Hot American Summer provokes insane rage in some people, it's really weird

Yeah, it was poorly reviewed when it first came out, and so was The State's TV show. They were both largely reevaluated and positively discussed in subsequent years.

Ebert hated a lot of comedies that are now well regarded

http://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/michael-showalter-and-david-wain-interview/

Wet Hot American Summer provokes insane rage in some people, it's really weird

absolutely! most friends I've shown/recommended it to have loved it, but there have been a couple that had a very strong hatred for the movie, and for me for recommending it...like "this is honestly the worst/least funny movie I have ever seen"

arrested development redux has struck the fear in me for this weekend.. my wife on the other hand cant contain her giddiness.

The reviews have been pretty middling, but that's right in line with the original movies, so I'm still hopeful.

There are surely people who get the movie and just don't think it's funny, but my theory is that a lot of the people who get legit worked up about it (and, more recently, about They Came Together) are mad because they kinda fundamentally don't understand the tone/approach.

yeah, there's a guy I comic I knew back in college who has a podcast now, and he often rants against WHAS, arguing that there aren't any actual jokes, just silliness that people are afraid not to laugh at for fear of not appearing hip

i want to live in a world where WHAS is really hip

you are posting in that world right now

but instead i live in this world, where those guys down the street wearing their denim jackets are always walking around not looking at me or paying attention, saying to themselves "god i'm so hip", and then that bankteller who always acts like she doesn't recognize me and wears the work-appropriate shoes, saying "i am hipper than you" to herself, i bet

xpost dammit i was trying to do some worldbuilding here

ha sorry

oh, it's ok

(i bet you're ordering food online tonight, hipster)

listen to one of Marc Maron's interviews with members of the State where he is clearly still jealous that they were the hip comedy thing back in the mid-90s.

eh they were like third in line behind Mr. Show and KITH imo tbh a lot of the State stuff left me cold (and still does) - feel like they blossomed afterward

you're forgetting they were on MTV

same.

one of the things i love about David Wain projects is the sense that he's just doing what makes him (a presumably weird, jaded comedy dude) laugh. "actual jokes" are usually not on the list, and that's fine.

xp

That's a bug up Maron's specific ass. I'm sure they were influential, and probably moreso to a very particular generation of comedy people, but probably not as much as Mr. Show or KITH.

That Ebert review is so cringey

I don't know how this became an argument about the relative hipness of KITH and the State. I was talking about someone from a "very particular generation of comedy people" who either revere or hate the State in a way similar to how music fans from that time still get worked up about GBV or something.

I was responding to Shakey. I'm not disputing their influence, I'm just not personally aware of it. My younger brother's probably about as big a State fan as I am a KITH fan.

By which I mean: he's the one superfan I'm aware of.

this is one of my fav non-state state-ish sketches from the 90s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSzCyZhFPqo

I think the State was kinda hip, in a comedy nerd kinda way. Like UCB or MST3K, at the time it would be a VHS tape you maybe had to track down. I didn't have MTV when it was on but later made friends that were into the State and Stella and they had the tapes and DVDs.

First time I saw this I thought it was funny but not that amazing. Years later it was on netflix and I watched it w some friends and their parents and it was hilarious, everyone enjoyed it. The parents were pretty hip tho, a musician and an art teacher.

I may have held it against the State that they were on MTV at the time/didn't seem as "edgy" as KITH and Mr. Show, who could get away with swearing, drug refs etc.

i couldn't watch They Came Together. i mean i started to watch it. maybe i have become one of those people who didn't think wet hot was funny when it came out. i really wanted to like it.

i watched wet hot with rufus the other night. he thought it was funny.

cyrus wasn't home. figured rufus is a cool enough 12 year old to handle it.

i was trying to explain to him about the shows that made comedy what it is today. mr. show. ben stiller show. the state. upright citizens. kids in the hall.

aw I really liked They Came Together, more than WHAS probably

also shut up about your old tv shows grandad

(j/k)

you have to start them off with Ernie Kovacs

Marx Bros or gtfo

Strictly Mutoscope for my kids. What the Butler Saw is fuckin classic comedy, fuck SOUND.

Punch Magazine

fuck it hire a commedia dellarte troupe or at least one arlechino motherfucker to pretend to try/fail to catch/eat a housefly, all while wearing a creepy mask

if we're going to create the perfect drama nerd let's do it RIGHT ilx

my kids like buster keaton and the marx brothers. they had no time at all for charlie chaplin. i tried to get them into ernie kovacs by telling them that their grandpa worked on the show but i think it's too slow/obscure for them.

Does Netflix premiere shows right at midnight on the day of? How does this work? I've never anticipated a Netflix series before.

midnight pacific time

Then how long until it's posted on illegal video streaming sites I'm asking for a friend

i had/have/will have a crush on kerri kenney

I love that Elaine Showalter is constantly tweeting links to articles and reviews about WHAS.

watched the first episode tonight. will watch more tomorrow. definitely some funny moments.

nice cameo by the nerd kids in ep. 4

This was at least as good as the movie. Better made, jokes hit/miss ratio about the same.

Yeah agree! They really pulled it off. LOL at Ronald Reagan.

Hurrican of Fun was interesting

*Hurricane

Watched two episodes and probably won't do any more. Felt like the movie again + a lot of stuff that would/should've been deleted scenes or subplots. Wain's direction is almost aggressively flat and lazy, even moreso than usual.

Thank you for your input

The thing about WHAS that I didn't like was that Cannonball Run vibe I got that the actors were having more fun than me. I'm still going to watch this though.

Rosary bleads

I never got that vibe but I pretty much liked all of those people from previous work so I may be biased. First ep of the show was pretty funny.