6. Scary Movie
The "Parody" was a dying sub-genre. With a couple of sub-par efforts by Leslie Nielson (although I felt Wrongfully Accused was sorely underrated) and the retirement of Mel Brooks, it looked like it was about time the movie Parody packed its things and took up permanent residence in Saturday Night Live. Here come the Wayans Brothers to save the day. The creators of Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (Best. Title. Ever.) came back to take on the Horror genre.
Why We Pretend to Hate It:
Because of this.
And this.
And this.
Also this.
And don't forget this.
What do all of these movies have in common? They were all written by "two of the six writers of Scary Movie." Ergot, if Scary Movie never happened, neither would ANY of those movies.
Furthermore, with Scary Movie, the Wayans Brothers are either responsible for creating an epic fail or a Postmodern masterpiece, because the main target of that particular film is Scream. Scream is a parody of the slasher genre while it was also, itself a slasher film. This would make Scary Movie a parody of a parody. The aforementioned "films" are even more guilty of doing this, but it gets more obvious because they're parodying over-the-top slapstick comedies like Borat and Dodgeball.
Because it was the beginning of a slew of really terrible movies that no one likes yet Hollywood seems to keep making, Scary Movie got lumped in with all of the movies that end in the word "Movie". Even though only TWO of its six writers were responsible for them all.
Why We Secretly Love It:
Because unlike the string-of-reference crap that keeps getting churned out seemingly every year, the first Scary Movie was actually pretty clever and funny. Whether its Anna Faris and her dopey, clueless girl act, or The Wayans Brothers with their ambiguous-gay and stoner jokes. But in the end, like the movie they parody, the Wayans Brothers point out and exploit the weaknesses of the genre. Where Scream took the deconstruction approach, Scary Movie exaggerrated all those weaknesses and utilized them for full-on comedic effect.
Comedically speaking, it's not exactly Gosford Park. It was not made for a sophisticated audience. Scary Movie was made to please the masses. It's not uncommon to turn your nose up at a joke you feel is below you, but the Wayans seemed to have a way of pulling it off to the point where you find it hard not to laugh when Carmen Electra farts in the beginning. Or the many, many times you see a penis. Not the kind of thing you will find in an Oscar-winning screenplay, but when you're looking to make a wide variety of people laugh, it takes a special kind of talent to pull that off.
Granted, The Wayans Brothers seemed to lose that edge following Scary Movie. So, arguably, that was one of the last solid parody films. Sure, from time to time we'll get a Shaun of the Dead or a Walk Hard, which are both incredibly brilliant comedies for sure, but the Parody these days is kept afloat by Mad TV rejects who wouldn't know comedy if it bit them in the ass. Scary Movie may be a far cry from Airplane, but in the scheme of things it's actually quite good.
5. Suburban Commando
For a movie that was supposed to have "no sequel", it sure had... three of them.
The "Parody" was a dying sub-genre. With a couple of sub-par efforts by Leslie Nielson (although I felt Wrongfully Accused was sorely underrated) and the retirement of Mel Brooks, it looked like it was about time the movie Parody packed its things and took up permanent residence in Saturday Night Live. Here come the Wayans Brothers to save the day. The creators of Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (Best. Title. Ever.) came back to take on the Horror genre.
Why We Pretend to Hate It:
Because of this.
And this.
Also this.
And don't forget this.
What do all of these movies have in common? They were all written by "two of the six writers of Scary Movie." Ergot, if Scary Movie never happened, neither would ANY of those movies.
Furthermore, with Scary Movie, the Wayans Brothers are either responsible for creating an epic fail or a Postmodern masterpiece, because the main target of that particular film is Scream. Scream is a parody of the slasher genre while it was also, itself a slasher film. This would make Scary Movie a parody of a parody. The aforementioned "films" are even more guilty of doing this, but it gets more obvious because they're parodying over-the-top slapstick comedies like Borat and Dodgeball.
Because it was the beginning of a slew of really terrible movies that no one likes yet Hollywood seems to keep making, Scary Movie got lumped in with all of the movies that end in the word "Movie". Even though only TWO of its six writers were responsible for them all.
Why We Secretly Love It:
Because unlike the string-of-reference crap that keeps getting churned out seemingly every year, the first Scary Movie was actually pretty clever and funny. Whether its Anna Faris and her dopey, clueless girl act, or The Wayans Brothers with their ambiguous-gay and stoner jokes. But in the end, like the movie they parody, the Wayans Brothers point out and exploit the weaknesses of the genre. Where Scream took the deconstruction approach, Scary Movie exaggerrated all those weaknesses and utilized them for full-on comedic effect.
Comedically speaking, it's not exactly Gosford Park. It was not made for a sophisticated audience. Scary Movie was made to please the masses. It's not uncommon to turn your nose up at a joke you feel is below you, but the Wayans seemed to have a way of pulling it off to the point where you find it hard not to laugh when Carmen Electra farts in the beginning. Or the many, many times you see a penis. Not the kind of thing you will find in an Oscar-winning screenplay, but when you're looking to make a wide variety of people laugh, it takes a special kind of talent to pull that off.
"Oops. I farted. I didn't think you would hear me."
Granted, The Wayans Brothers seemed to lose that edge following Scary Movie. So, arguably, that was one of the last solid parody films. Sure, from time to time we'll get a Shaun of the Dead or a Walk Hard, which are both incredibly brilliant comedies for sure, but the Parody these days is kept afloat by Mad TV rejects who wouldn't know comedy if it bit them in the ass. Scary Movie may be a far cry from Airplane, but in the scheme of things it's actually quite good.
5. Suburban Commando
This doesn't look like a very good wrestling match at all...
Is there anyone out there who actually remembers this movie? Well, for those of you who grew up watching wrestling like I did, a movie starring Hulk Hogan was... like... the best thing ever. I remember watching the preview on my VHS tape of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 (hang in there, kids - I know this terminology is a little old for you) and being all like... OH MY GOD HULK HOGAN'S IN A MOVIE!!!! AHHHHHHH!
Excuse me. Hulkamaniac for life.
Why We Pretend to Hate It:
The Rock's career aside, is there any movie starring a professional wrestler that's actually GOOD?
PUT THE GLASSES ON! Okay... Name TWO.
Generally speaking, movies that feature professional wrestlers in them tend to... I don't know... suck. Like... a lot. The Rock proved himself to be an exception to the rule, and even he found himself falling into the same cinematic pratfalls as Hulk Hogan did.
Let that sink in for a moment. Go ahead. I'll wait.
Think about it. The Marine was God-awful, and John Cena proved to be anything but a Box Office draw. See No Evil was a built-in unintentional comedy because Kane was the killer. It seems every time a professional wrestler moves from the ring to a sound stage, it becomes a recipe for disaster.
Why We Secretly Love It:
It's so cheesy and nostalgic it's difficult NOT to love. It was made at the tail-end of that era where a high cheese factor was acceptable in movies. That would be mid-80's 'till about... 1991. The year this film was released. The requirements for a movie like this to work are that it had to be a Sci-fi, and it had to have really bad creature effects. Also, having The Undertaker talk like a six-year-old girl helps.
Bad special effects are a MUST. The movie must look like something of its time... or something slightly before it. Bear in mind, 1991 was the year Terminator 2 came out, and James Cameron was about to revolutionize visual effects for the umpteenth time. So if it can look like something that was made in 1986, that would work - as long as it was made within five years of that time. It must also have its fair share of quotable lines.
Oh, and as a general rule, if Christopher Lloyd is in your movie, it is automatically awesome. Period.
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