Movie Scum

Director Jay Chandrasekhar penned a fascinating piece today on Trove about the need for crowdfunding for Super Troopers 2 and the film industry in general. After a thorough background of the production of the first, now almost universally loved, Super Troopers, Chandrasekhar explains the problems with making a follow up in a studio system reaching for the biggest dollars possible. Two years ago, my friend was the president of a major Hollywood studio. When I sat down with him to talk about what movies we might make together, he said, "We need $100 million comedies starring Johnny Depp, Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, or Vince Vaughn. That's it. That's the list. That's what we want." Of course, analysts for years have pointed out the $100 million blockbusters being churned out have decreased studio's willingness to consider a more modest $20 million picture because it won't be close to make the bottom line look as good. "Unless we were willing to...

There's no shame here. We all love Super Troopers . While the first time I watched it, I didn't care for it, every subsequent viewing has brought more and more pleasure than a simple 'Cat Game.' In the almost decade-and-a-half since its release, Super Troopers 2 has been a idealistic dream to reunite the questionable cast into their very relatable characters. But now, Broken Lizard, the group behind Super Troopers and a bunch of other movies I haven't seen, have launched an Indiegogo to raise funding for the the best comedy this side of ... well, far beyond what Kevin Smith has to offer. Like any crowd-funded material, there are perks to be had from a set visit to an actual cruiser! So what are you waiting for? A maple syrup chugging competition? A liter-o-cola? The Spurbury Police to once again assert dominantion? Let's do this shit! UPDATE (3/26/15 8:51 AM): Well, that didn't take long. It appears the connoisseurs of good cinema and/or slack...

Written by: PBF Broken Lizard's first film, Puddle Cruiser is just not very good. It isn't funny and less silly than the later films. It's quite sloppily put together, the acting is deplorable and it's very uninteresting. Some of the conversations last way too long and a lot of the jokes are quite long winded and just unfunny. You can see the beginning of the troupe's rapport with each other start to form, but it isn't strong enough yet to pull the film off.

Written by: PBF I can quote the entire film, and yet every time I watch it, I laugh as if I have never heard any of the lines before. It’s kind of like Police Academy . Only there’s no academy. Also, it’s funny. The plot is simple enough for any drunk or high viewer to grasp. In fact it may enhance the experience to be inebriated. Enhance. Enhance. Seriously though, Super Troopers is probably quite funny when viewed under the influence but it is not necessary. We have a chapter of Vermont State Police that prefer to engage in buffoonery and chicanery rather than take their jobs seriously. This behavior has finally caught up to them as they face being shut down due to budget cuts. The local police department would benefit from this by getting more money. In addition to that the two squads are rivals and the local cops would love it if the highway cops were jobless. Soon a dead woman is found and a truck filled with marijuana is pulled over and each group of cops try to break the...

Written by: PBF Coconut Pete is without a doubt, the best role Bill Paxton has ever played. Club Dread is the 3rd film by Broken Lizard, following Super Troopers . There is a resort called Coconut Pete’s Pleasure Island, in Costa Rica. It is your basic hedonistic paradise; lots of naked people, booze, drugs, etc. Coconut Pete is a former rock star in the vein of Jimmy Buffet who will be quick to remind you that his hit Pina Coladaburg was written 7 years before Margaritaville. On this island is the fun police, live Pac Man games (in which you might see the fruit from the game having sex with each other) and the legend of Machete Pete. Machete Pete supposedly killed a bunch of staff and castrated himself and ran off in to the woods never to be seen again. Soon after this story is told (around a campfire ala Friday the 13th Part 2) dead bodies start being found with cryptic clues carved in to them. With no way off the island, the staff must figure out which one of them is the kil...

Written by: PBF Beerfest is the fourth film by comedy troupe Broken Lizard . I watched the unrated version on DVD and found it to be more humorous than I remembered. I assume that this is because most (if not all) of any recent viewings before this were on Comedy Central or some other basic cable channel, thus it was edited in to being unfunny. Johann von Wolfhouse, grandfather to Jan and Todd Wolfhouse, dies, and the brothers are sent to Germany by their Gam Gam (great grandmother) with his ashes. It’s Oktoberfest, and the Wolfhouses accidentally destroy a drunken celebration under a tent. They are taken to Beerfest, which is a drinking competition run by Wolfgang von Wolfhausen. Like the Olympics, teams from many different countries compete, and (unlike the Olympics) the Germans are the best. The German team are also Wolfhausens and it is discovered that they are the cousins of the Wolfhouses. However, the Wolfhausens are less than hospitable, claiming that Johann was a stable...

Written by: PBF The Slammin’ Salmon is the most recent film that has been released by the comedy troupe Broken Lizard. This one was directed by Kevin Heffernan , as opposed to Jay Chandrasekhar , who directed the troupe’s previous films. “Slammin” Cleon Salmon is a former boxer that owns a restaurant called the Slammin’ Salmon (this will be the last mention of the film’s title). He bets the head of the Japanese Yakuza $20,000 in a rousing game of Japanese Albino Hunting and loses. He needs the money by tomorrow so a challenge is placed to the staff of the restaurant to make $20,000. The prize is $10,000 to the top waiter (don’t worry; it’s part of the comedy, not a plot error) while the punishment for the lowest performing waiter is a broken rib sandwich. Cleon is played by Michael Clarke Duncan, so as you may imagine, that is a large and painful sandwich. Broken Lizard has a small collection of films including Super Troopers and Beerfest . It seems like the more movies they...