Welcome to a new series at Touch of Meg. I've been watching movies like mad lately and thought I'd start reviewing some of them in hopes that you'll find a new movie to add to your DVD collection. I'm going to try to have them up on Friday morning so that you can stop by Blockbuster, if you feel so inclined.
This week's flick is 2001's Wet Hot American Summer. I remember when this came out but I was much too young to see it. It was on one of our movie channels yesterday so I made an afternoon of it. And by "made an afternoon of it," I mean that I didn't get off the couch for like, three hours.
Anyway, this movie was directed by David Wain and stars Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Michael Showalter, and Marguerite Moreau. Other cast members include Michael Ian Black, Amy Poehler, Paul Rudd, and Molly Shannon. Sounds good, right? It is good. The cast is perfect.
This movie is about the last day of summer camp, 1981. I'm a sucker for movies made in or set in the 1980s so this was right up my alley.
This week's flick is 2001's Wet Hot American Summer. I remember when this came out but I was much too young to see it. It was on one of our movie channels yesterday so I made an afternoon of it. And by "made an afternoon of it," I mean that I didn't get off the couch for like, three hours.
Anyway, this movie was directed by David Wain and stars Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Michael Showalter, and Marguerite Moreau. Other cast members include Michael Ian Black, Amy Poehler, Paul Rudd, and Molly Shannon. Sounds good, right? It is good. The cast is perfect.
This movie is about the last day of summer camp, 1981. I'm a sucker for movies made in or set in the 1980s so this was right up my alley.
Janeane Garofalo plays the camp director, Beth. Beth has a romance with Henry (David Hyde Pierce), who lives near the camp. When she's not dealing with missing counselors and going into town to smoke, drink, and shoot up, that is.
Katie and Andy (Marguerite Moreau and Paul Rudd) play counselors, who are obviously dating. Well, that's not entirely obvious since Andy cheats on Katie quite often. Another counselor, Coop, has a crush on Katie, and vice versa but Katie won't leave Andy.
I love Paul Rudd so I was delighted to find out that he was in this movie. He does a fantastic job with his character, a slacker who couldn't care less about anything other than getting laid. (I don't want to know what kind of hits my blog is going to get from that sentence.) You don't even come away from the movie liking his character and how could you? He serial cheats on Katie and throws kids out of moving vans (in the most hilarious way.) It's fun to watch, though.
"I need you to know I have been busting my balls, woman! I am telling you, the musical numbers are a mess, my kids are a bunch of amateurs, and the last thing I need today is some diabetic freak prancing around on stage making my life a living hell!"
Have I ever told you how much I love Amy Poehler? She plays best friend (sister?) to Bradley Cooper's character, Ben. They are organizers of the end-of-the-summer talent show. (Spoiler: Ben is gay. Just warning you about the guy-on-guy action. It's not explicit, of course.)
Annnd the talent show. It's everything you think it would be and more. There is singing, dancing, and the wind thing that I still don't get. Regardless, it's funny.
Now if you're really easily offended, I would skip this movie. There are f-bombs, a gay wedding, and the part where Molly Shannon's character and this little boy decide to get married...
There is also a hilarious story line in which two counselors are forced to take a group of kids camping for the night. One counselor is determined not to stay the night at the river because he and one of the other counselors are going to...do it. He drops everyone off at the river and hauls it back to camp. Problem is, it's a two hour drive and he crashes the van into the car in the first five minutes of the trip. So he starts running. The other counselor abandons the campers in a raft on the river and steals a motorcycle to go find him because Runny McGee is the only one who knows how to navigate the river. Long story short, he finally makes it back to camp, battered from the journey, only to find that his dream girl doesn't even remember his name.
Another storyline involves Henry, a scientist/professor, and a rocket or something hurdling toward earth. I didn't quite understand it but it was funny to watch.
Wet Hot American Summer is satirical and hilarious. It's one that I could watch over and over, and honestly? There aren't a lot of movies like that for me. So if you're not offended by anything I've mentioned, I'd suggest renting it and not getting off the couch for three hours like I did.
Another storyline involves Henry, a scientist/professor, and a rocket or something hurdling toward earth. I didn't quite understand it but it was funny to watch.
Wet Hot American Summer is satirical and hilarious. It's one that I could watch over and over, and honestly? There aren't a lot of movies like that for me. So if you're not offended by anything I've mentioned, I'd suggest renting it and not getting off the couch for three hours like I did.
1 comment:
I also love this movie. I think in 10 years time it'll be as classic as Rocky Horror Picture show.
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