Slated by critics, moviegoers, and pretty much everyone else; loved by a select few, specifically 13 year old boys – and me. I’ve watched these films, collectively, at least 20 times, and I have no idea why. It’s not so much that I enjoy them; it’s more a case of finding myself watching them at 3 in the morning with nothing else to do. If any of you have also found yourself in this position, you can understand the confusion of “why can’t I turn this off?”.
After being a part of the writing team for Spy Hard and Scary Movie, (with an original draft called ‘Scream if You Know What I did Last Summer’, which was later reworked by some of the Wayan Brothers), Aaron Seltzer and Jason Friedberg garnered some attention for their spoof writing. In 2006, after struggling to find a director for their rom-com parody ‘Date Movie’, they decided to do it themselves, which eventually lead to a series, writing new films nearly each year.
The generally negative opinions of the films are sparked by the constant gag after gag, juvenile late-night humour, and ridiculous pop culture references, which can quickly become quite tiresome. However, if you’re prepared to kill some time and get the odd funny film reference, then I’d recommend them (don’t blame me when you hate it).
Date Movie (2006) – Alyson Hannigan and the ‘endearingly British’ man (Adam Campbell) mocking classic (and some not-so-classic) ‘date’ films, such as When Harry met Sally, Meet the Parents, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and Hitch. Protagonist Julia Jones is an overweight woman with no romantic prospects, however after being made beautiful and thin by the guys at ‘Pimp My Ride’, she ends up with a boyfriend, Grant, who has a crazy family and a hot ex-girlfriend – but don’t worry, everything’s fine in the end. Despite its toilet humour, bad impressions and terrible pop culture references – it is surprisingly watchable and worth a cheap laugh or two.
Best Impression: Jennifer Coolidge as Barbra Streisand in ‘Meet the Parents’
Best Moment: The Kill Bill parody, with a face-off between Julia and Grant’s ex, Andy
‘How-The-Hell-Did-They-Think-This-Was-Funny’ Moment: A cat pooping on a toilet for at least 2 minutes
Epic Movie (2007) – My personal favourite, ‘Epic Movie’ is one I make no apology for watching at least 6 times. It follows 4 Orphans that meet through a trip to an eerie Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, then end up stumbling into Gnarnia, and running into trouble with the ‘White Bitch’, but, with the help of Harry Potter and Kryptonite, everything is returned to normal. The characters and the one-liners are what stood out for me. Jennifer Coolidge is hilarious as the ‘White Bitch’, and Jayma Mays and Kal Penn (the guy that played Kumar) stand out as great comedy actors. There are some entertaining impressions of Captain Jack Sparrow, Kanye West, and one hilariously bad Harry Potter impression. Although it still features the typically juvenile Seltzer-Friedberg humour, there is a certain nostalgia linked to this film, as it represents a good year of film and TV pop culture.
Best Impression: Crispin Glover as a sadistic Willy Wonka
Best Moment: Mr. Tumnus, the Fawn’s, episode of Cribs
‘How-The-Hell-Did-They-Think-This-Was-Funny’ Moment: Kal Penn’s character eating from the chocolate lake, which turns out to be a sewage line (I think you can guess…)
Meet the Spartans (2008) – This particular spoof film focuses mainly on the story 300, but also features parodies of Grand Theft Auto, Happy Feet, a hunchbacked Paris Hilton and a bald Britney Spears. Spartan king Leonidas assembles an army of 13 warriors to defend ancient Sparta from the thousands of invading Persians and their king, Xerxes. They battle, they dance, and they kick people into the pit of death.
Best Impression: Nicole Parker as Ellen DeGeneres (after the credits start rolling)
Best Moment: The Pit of Death
‘How-The-Hell-Did-They-Think-This-Was-Funny’ Moment: A ridiculous dance battle between the Spartans and the Persians
Disaster Movie (2008) – Arguably the worst of all Seltzer and Friedberg’s films, the end of the world is nigh and Will and Calvin, as well as Juno and Kim Kardashian (her acting debut… enough said), try to survive the chaos. The Enchanted princess is a particular highlight, played by Mad TV Alum, Nicole Parker. The Juno impression is also brilliant, with the character speaking in typical Diablo Cody fashion, which isn’t hard to mock. The film was completely slated by critic Louis Fehrey, who claimed that it ‘insulted his intelligence… and the intelligence of cinema’. He went as far as collecting every single review of the film to collate a study claiming that ’98.7% of Disaster Movie reviews were negative’.
Best Impression: Jason Boegh as Carrie from Sex and the City
Best Moment: The introduction to the Enchanted Princess
‘How-The-Hell-Did-They-Think-This-Was-Funny’ Moment: Pretty much all of it, I’ll be honest
Vampires Suck (2010) – This spoof film is great for anyone that can’t stand Twilight, myself included, as it parodies all that was strange about the movie – the glowing vampires, Taylor Lautner’s constant shirtless-ness, Kristen Stewart…. Combining the storylines of Twilight and New Moon, ‘Vampires Suck’ follows Becca Crane, an awkward teen who falls in love with a brooding vampire, Edward Sullen. Although after Edward’s family try to kill Becca in order to suck her blood, he ends the relationship and leaves town. Don’t worry, love prevails in the end, and Becca is also transformed into a vampire. This film is actually more bearable than some of their earlier works, purely because the parodies don’t go off on a tangent as frequently, focusing on spoofing the Twilight franchise, and if it wasn’t for the constant physical comedy, it might have been even better. But then again, it wouldn’t be a Seltzer-Friedberg film without someone being thrown into a piano every now and then.
Best Impression: Jenn Proske as ‘Becca Crane’
Best Moment: The fight between ‘Team Edward’ and ‘Team Jacob’
‘How-The-Hell-Did-They-Think-This-Was-Funny’ Moment: A duel between the nomadic vampires and the werewolves in hot pants, which turns into a dance to ‘It’s Raining Men’, and pretty much all physical comedy gags.
Although the films have a reputation for being juvenile, toilet-gag, late-night-comedy spoofs, they do not necessarily ‘insult the intelligence’ of cinema – they are not meant to be seen as anything more than tongue-in-cheek parodies, and if you have a couple of hours you really don’t mind wasting, then they are ideal. With the odd good impression and a reminder of what was once culturally relevant in Hollywood (High School Musical, Pimp My Ride, Hannah Montana, an overweight Jessica Simpson…), the ‘Movie’ spoofs are a guilty pleasure that only some can admit to, and I can finally say I am one of them. What a weight off my chest.
Date Movie, Epic Movie and Disaster Movie are available to watch on Netflix.
Jenn Spiers
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