This Just In: Ben & Jerry’s Launches “Scotchy Scotch Scotch”
New Flavor Honors Legendary Anchorman Ron Burgundy
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--You heard it here first, folks! Ben & Jerry’s announces its newest Limited Batch ice cream flavor, "Scotchy Scotch Scotch.” Created in honor of beloved Ron Burgundy, the TV news anchor with a penchant for all things scotch, the flavor is a creamy concoction of butterscotch ice cream with ribbons of butterscotch swirl. Don’t act like you’re not impressed!
“Scotchy, Scotch, Scotch is a delicious ice cream and I hope Ben and Jerry consider my other suggestions,” said Ron Burgundy. “Malt liquor marshmallow, well liquor bourbon peanut butter, and cheap white wine sherbet.”
The flavor was officially unveiled at New York City’s Pier 36 where members of the press attended and witnessed the announcement first-hand. True to the iconic ice cream company’s untraditional style, the event kicked off with – what else? – a performance by Nutty The Waterskiing Squirrel, as seen in the first Anchorman film. Nutty’s amazing performance was immediately followed by the appearance of a Ben & Jerry’s scoop-truck-turned-Channel 4 News-truck, which rolled onto the scene transporting a legion of blazer-wearing Ron Burgundy look-alikes. After “Scotchy Scotch Scotch” was officially unveiled, attending media and fans were treated to free scoops of the new Ron Burgundy-inspired flavor.
Fans anxiously await December 20th, when Ron and his elite news team return to the news desk in “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.”
“As a company who believes our fans deserve nothing but the best, we have great respect for Ron Burgundy, who takes the same belief to heart,” said Lisa Sholk, Ben & Jerry’s Brand Manager, who lead the team on the Scotchy Scotch Scotch flavor project.
“Having Ben & Jerry’s celebrate the return of Ron Burgundy to the big screen with the introduction of this special ice cream is an exciting and delicious way to build anticipation for the film,” said LeeAnne Stables, President of Consumer Products at Paramount Pictures. “We especially enjoyed the sampling process over the last several months to find the perfect Scotchy scotch flavor.”
Scotchy Scotch Scotch is available now at participating scoop shops across the country. Pints of the flavor will arrive on store shelves over the next few weeks.
“To help locate the flavor as it rolls out, we’re asking fans of Ben & Jerry’s and Anchorman to log onto www.benjerry.com and share when and where they were able to have a taste,” Sholk said. “We want fans to be able to experience it all first-hand, because as Ron says, this flavor is ‘kind of a big deal.’”
With the 70's behind him, San Diego’s top rated newsman, Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell), returns to the news desk in “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.” Also back for more are Ron’s co-anchor and wife, Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), weather man Brick Tamland (Steve Carell), man on the street Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd) and sports guy Champ Kind (David Koechner) – all of whom won’t make it easy to stay classy... while taking the nation’s first 24-hour news channel by storm. Produced by Judd Apatow, Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. Written by Will Ferrell & Adam McKay. Directed by Adam McKay.
To learn more about Ben & Jerry’s and to find a scoop shop near you, please visit www.benjerry.com.
About Ben & Jerry’s
Ben & Jerry’s produces a wide variety of super-premium ice cream and ice cream novelties, using high-quality ingredients including milk and cream from family farmers who do not treat their cows with the synthetic hormone rBGH. The company states its position on rBGH* on its labels. Ben and Jerry’s products are distributed nationwide and in selected foreign countries in supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores, franchise Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shops, restaurants and other venues. Ben & Jerry’s, a Vermont corporation and wholly-owned subsidiary of Unilever, operates its business on a three-part Mission Statement emphasizing product quality, economic reward and a commitment to the community. Contributions made via the employee-led Ben & Jerry’s Foundation in 2012 totaled $1.8 million. Additionally, the company makes significant product donations to community groups and nonprofits both in Vermont and across the nation. The purpose of Ben & Jerry’s philanthropy is to support the founding values of the company: economic and social justice, environmental restoration and peace through understanding, and to support our Vermont communities. For the full scoop on all Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shop locations and fabulous flavors, visit www.benjerry.com.
About Paramount Pictures Corporation
Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIAB, VIA), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. Paramount controls a collection of some of the most powerful brands in filmed entertainment, including Paramount Pictures, Paramount Animation, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Insurge Pictures, MTV Films, and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Home Media Distribution, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., and Paramount Studio Group. TM & © 2013 Paramount Pictures Corp. All rights reserved.
* The FDA has said no significant difference has been shown and no test can now distinguish between milk from rBGH treated cows and untreated cows. Not all the suppliers of our other ingredients can promise that the milk they use comes from untreated cows.
Want to own a Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shop? We’re looking for a few progressive entrepreneurs in key markets. Call 802.846.1500, extension 7818.
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Review: "Boogeyman" Didn't Have to Be a Disappointment (Happy B'day, Sam Raimi)
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 21 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux
Boogeyman (2005)
Running time: 86 minutes (1 hour, 26 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense sequences of horror and terror/violence, and some partial nudity
DIRECTOR: Stephen Kay
WRITERS: Eric Kripke, Juliet Snowden and Stiles White; from a story by Eric Kripke
PRODUCERS: Daniel Carrillo, Hans Jurgen Pohland, Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Bobby Bukowski
EDITOR: John Axelrad
COMPOSER: Joseph LoDuca
HORROR/MYSTERY/THRILLER
Starring: Barry Watson, Emily Deschanel, Skye McCole Bartusiak, Lucy Lawless, Tory Mussett, Robyn Malcolm, Charles Mesure, Philip Gordon, and Andrew Glover
The subject of this movie review is Boogeyman, a 2005 horror film from director Stephen T. Kay. A take on the classic fear of a “monster in the closet,” this film focuses on a young man who is still haunted by a childhood terror that has affected his life.
Boogeyman was co-produced by Sam Raimi (director of The Evil Dead and three Spider-Man films), and also yielded two direct-to-DVD sequels. Actor Barry Watson, who was one of the stars of the long-running television series, “7th Heaven,” plays the lead character in Boogeyman.
A young man named Tim Jensen (Barry Watson) is traumatized by events he believes happened in his childhood bedroom. His memories tell him that as an eight-year old boy he saw the boogeyman (Andrew Glover) come out of his closet and steal his father (Charles Mesure) away from him. Now years later, after his mother’s (Lucy Lawless) funeral, he returns to his family home to face his fears that may be either a monstrous entity stealing away those he loves or the figment of his sick mind.
Boogeyman is lightweight entertainment, but sometimes it’s a gooseflesh raising, edge-of-your-seat, horror movie, even the cheesy bits, of which there are many. Quick cuts from one shot to another, bumps in the night, slamming doors, knocking from behind locked doors, closets, and walls, lots of night scenes, and day scenes that look like night scenes are on the menu for this film. There is even a shot of the footsteps of an unknown person who may be the (gasp) boogeyman, but still horror movie buffs, even the most difficult to please, will find a few moments of genuine fears and thrills.
However, Boogeyman tries to be mystery story about a child abductor, a psychological horror film, a monster movie, a family melodrama, etc. It finally adds up to a scary movie that abruptly runs out of gas after trying on the rags of just about every horror sub-genre. It’ll leave you asking what happened. The screenwriters and director are too coy and too cute by a mile, so the result of their creative efforts is a film barely worth a rental.
3 of 10
D+
Updated: Wednesday, October 23, 2013
The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.
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Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Review: "The Lords of Salem" is Bee-zarre
The Lords of Salem (2012)
Running time: 101 minutes (1 hour, 41 minutes)
MPAA – R for disturbing violent and sexual content, graphic nudity, language and some drug use
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Rob Zombie
PRODUCERS: Jason Blum, Andy Gould, Oren Peli, Steven Schneider, Rob Zombie
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Brandon Trost
EDITOR: Glenn Garland
COMPOSERS: Griffin Boice and John 5
HORROR
Starring: Sheri Moon Zombie, Bruce Davison, Jeffrey Daniel Phillips, Judy Geeson, Meg Foster, Patricia Quinn, Ken Foree, Dee Wallace, Maria Conchita Alonso, Andrew Prine, and Troy
The Lords of Salem is a 2012 horror film from writer-director Rob Zombie. The film received a limited theatrical release in April 2013. The Lords of Salem focuses on a radio DJ who receives a strange vinyl record that when played causes her to feel sick and to experience flashbacks of a violent, dark past.
In Salem, Massachusetts, radio station WIQZ has a hot trio of DJs, the “Big H Team.” One of the DJs, Heidi Lorac (Sheri Moon Zombie), a recovering drug addict, receives a strange wooden box containing a vinyl record from a band called “the Lords.” Heidi’s fellow DJs, Herman “Whitey” Salvador (Jeffrey Daniel Phillips) and Herman “Munster” Jackson (Ken Foree), decide to call the band, “The Lords of Salem.” The first time Heidi listens to the record, she has strange visions and feels nauseated.
There are also strange doings at the apartment complex where Heidi lives. Heidi insists that she has a new neighbor in Apartment 5, but her landlord, Lacy Doyle (Judy Geeson), says that there is no new tenant. Meanwhile, Francis Matthias (Bruce Davison), an author of a book on witches, is troubled by the name, “The Lords of Salem.” He begins to research Salem’s dark past involving witches, as Heidi’s visions become more troubling.
The Lords of Salem is like a modern version of Rosemary’s Baby with tattoos and Hepatitis C. This is not really a typical girl-gonna-have-Satan’s-baby movie, as it has original story elements. It is horrifying and horrible, meaning that some of it is unsettling and even disturbing, but some of it is ridiculous and unintentionally comical.
Coming from the music industry and having appeared in music videos, Rob Zombie knows how to create an aural-visual experience that captivates the imagination or captures it, if necessary. To that end, Zombie gets an exceedingly creepy film score from Griffin Boice and John 5, making The Lords of Salem, in some ways, their film.
Once again, Sheri Moon Zombie, Rob Zombie’s wife and muse/art victim, takes the lead in one of Rob’s films. In The Lords of Salem, she is not so much an actress, as she acts like she needs an intervention and detox. The best performance in this film belongs to Bruce Davison who brings subtlety and nuance to Zombie chamber piece of bizarre imagery and sacrilege.
The Lords of Salem is an original vision with many familiar elements, but in some ways, the film goes too far without really going too far. The story offers crazy women forsaking one symbol of male authority for another. Either way, they seem determined to serve the interests of male genitalia. The Lords of Salem is not the great movie it could have been, but it gave me the creeps and the willies. So Rob Zombie’s movie is a must-see for horror fans.
6 of 10
B
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.
Review: "The Devil's Rejects" a Different Kind of Crime Flick
The Devil’s Rejects (2005)
Running time: 101 minutes (1hour, 41 minutes)
MPAA – R for sadistic violence, strong sexual content, language, and drug use
DIRECTOR: Rob Zombie
WRITER: Rob Zombie (based upon his characters)
PRODUCERS: Mike Elliot, Andy Gould, Marco Mehlitz, Michael Ohoven, and Rob Zombie
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Phil Parmet (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Glenn Garland
COMPOSER: Tyler Bates
HORROR/CRIME/ACTION/THRILLER
Starring: Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, Sheri Moon Zombie, William Forsythe, Ken Foree, Matthew McGrory, Leslie Easterbrook, Geoffrey Lewis, Priscilla Barnes, Dave Sheridan, Ken Norby, Lew Temple, Danny Trejo, Diamond Dallas Page, and Tom Towles
The subject of this movie review is The Devil’s Rejects, a 2005 horror thriller and crime film from director Rob Zombie. The film is a sequel to Zombie’s 2003 film, House of 1000 Corpses. In the new film, the villains of the first movie are now seen as anti-hero types on the run from the law.
The Firefly Family or, as they call themselves, The Devil’s Rejects, a band of sadistic killers, wake up one morning to find their isolated farm hideout ambushed by the vengeful Sheriff John Quincy Wydell (William Forsythe) and a posse of his deputies. With guns blazing, only Otis B. Driftwood (Bill Moseley) and his sister Baby Firefly (Sheri Moon Zombie) escape the barrage of bullets unharmed.
The duo hide out in an isolated desert motel waiting to be joined by another murderous relative, the killer clown, Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig), killing whoever stands in their way or angers them. However, as the body count soars, Sheriff Wydell, seeking revenge for the Rejects’ murder of his brother, George Wydell (Tom Towles), decides to take matters into his own hands and begins a private and violent war against The Devil’s Rejects outside the jurisdiction of the law.
The Devil’s Rejects is Rob Zombie’s sequel to his controversial 2003 indie hit, House of 1000 Corpses. Rejects is structurally better in terms of narrative flow and writing, and Zombie sprinkles his cast with a collection of character actors known either for their roles in violent action movies or for their cult status in TV and film. Among them include Priscilla Barnes, who is best remembered as “Terri Allen,” the third and final blonde roommate on the popular late 70’s/early 80’s television sitcom, “Three’s Company,” and Ken Foree, who was “Peter,” one of the four human survivors trapped in a shopping mall in the original 1978 Dawn of the Dead.
In fact, Zombie designed his film to look like one of those violent crime thrillers that were synonymous with 70’s cinema. Even going back to the first film, this franchise was as much Deliverance as it was The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The film’s opening sequence, a bullet-laden shootout, is as good as any Hong Kong crime film and is as intense as the big shootout in Michael Mann’s Heat – though much shorter. Zombie’s film is silly, sadistic, and unabashedly subversive. While the film and its characters’ antics (both the “hero” and the “villains are brutal and vicious assholes) get old after awhile, Zombie doesn’t commit the same flawed, artistic pretensions he did in House of 1000 Corpses.
His film is gloriously and rebelliously a bloody, gore-laden, crime film about bad-asses headed for a showdown. There are a few scenes and sequences in this film that true film fans cannot and must not miss. Those who can take the buckets of blood, F-bombs (several hundred), and atrocious murders will find The Devil Rejects a welcomed respite from the highly-polished polished movies that currently pass for Hollywood’s version what a gritty crime flick is.
6 of 10
B
Monday, April 17, 2006
Updated: Sunday, October 20, 2013
The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.
Review: A Rickety "House of 1000 Corpses"
House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
Running time: 89 minutes (1 hour, 29 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong sadistic violence/gore, sexuality and language
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Rob Zombie
PRODUCER: Andy Gould
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Alex Poppas (director of photography) and Tom Richmond (director of photography)
EDITORS: Kathryn Himoff, Robert K. Lambert, and Sean Lambert
COMPOSERS: Scott Humphrey and Rob Zombie
HORROR with elements of fantasy
Starring: Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, Karen Black, Chad Bannon, Sheri Moon, Erin Daniels, and Chris Hardwick
The subject of this movie review is House of 1000 Corpses, a 2003 horror and exploitation film from musician, recording artist, and director, Rob Zombie. The film takes place on Halloween and follows four people (two couples) held hostage by a sadistic backwoods family.
I’m only vaguely familiar with Rob Zombie’s music, as a solo artist or as the front man for the band White Zombie, but what I’ve heard, I’ve like very much. I first ignored news that he was making a movie, especially when I learned that the title would be House of 1000 Corpses. However, I became more interested as I followed the controversy surrounding the film, including original distributor, Universal’s, decision not to release the film because they believed it would receive an NC-17 rating from the MPAA. Since being finished in 2000, Zombie searched for a distributor until Lion’s Gate decided to distribute the film.
The tale of this horror movie is a familiar one to fans of scary movies, in particular, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. This time, two couples get lost in a remote rural area during a terrible rainstorm. Seeking refuge and a telephone, the end up in a rundown farmhouse with a family of hugely strange and unusual people.
I could use a lot of words to describe this film: evil, wicked, disgusting, gory, horrible, horrifying, funny, hilarious, terrifying, spooky, creepy, weird, vain, surreal, strange, bizarre, or maybe I could just say whether it is good or bad. Well, it’s not a bad film, but I wouldn’t exactly call it good.
It’s as much a music video as it is a movie, not only in its sensibilities, but also in its execution. Zombie mixes the story with video clips that have nothing to do with the film, while some of them are either vaguely or obviously related to the film either literally and thematically. Zombie creates a virtual sound wall of violent, bloody, gory, and deranged imagery. The film is awash in horror, violence, and acts of pure inhumanity. Despite all that, Zombie manages to create a coherent story. Even while cramming in as much shock value as he does, he holds onto his central concept of victims and victimizers, giving us just enough about the characters to keep us interested in or curious about them. Light though he may be on characterization, Zombie seemed to at least have one idea about who and what each character should be. I know that I really liked the heroes/victims and wanted to know more about them, and the villains are so sick and deranged that I wanted to know from where do things like them come.
The performances are inspired and zany, especially Karen Black, Sheri Moon, and Chad Bannon. Everybody seemed to be having a lot of fun. For all the sickness that is this film, I have to give credit for the filmmakers’ creative energy and obvious love for this project. You could see it in the performances and feel it in the craftsmanship. Heck, love for this project dripped off the screen the way gore dripped off the walls in the film.
This is by no means for everyone. I think the film’s biggest weakness is that the violence and sadism are far too sick. The setting’s relentless environment of blood, violence, and the bizarre hamper the storytelling, but structurally the film is sound. This is a curiosity piece. It’s not very everyone; honestly, it’s not for very many people. It’s a vanity project that might interest fans of Zombie’s music and hardcore horror movie fans who love gore by the shipload. You have to have a strong stomach and be able to tolerate really extreme subject matter; it’s not for the average Joe or even for many “serious” film fans. When you walk out the theatre, you need to be able to just brush off this particular movie experience. It’s not good or bad; it just is.
The story is only supposed to make sense visually the way a music video might “make sense.” This is Zombie vomiting out some of the twisted imagery that rides in his head. If he gets to make another horror movie, the next one might delve a little deeper into story and character and leave the shocking and extraneous video images for one of those short films musicians use to sell their music.
4 of 10
C
Updated: Sunday, October 20, 2013
The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Review: "Starsky and Hutch" is Average Entertainment (Happy B'day, Snoop Dogg)
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 27 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux
Starsky & Hutch (2004)
Running time: 101 minutes (1 hour, 41 minutes)
MPAA – PR-13 for drug content, sexual situations, partial nudity, language and some violence
DIRECTOR: Todd Phillips
WRITERS: John O’Brien, Scot Armstrong and Todd Phillips, from a story Steve Long and John O’Brien (based upon characters created by William Blinn)
PRODUCERS: William Blinn, Stuart Cornfeld, Akiva Goldsman, Tony Ludwig, and Alan Riche
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Barry Peterson (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Leslie Jones
COMPOSER: Theodore Shapiro
COMEDY/CRIME with some elements of action
Starring: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Snoop Dogg, Fred Williamson, Vince Vaughn, Juliette Lewis, Jason Bateman, Amy Smart, Carmen Electra, George Cheung, Chris Penn, Patton Oswalt, Jenard Burks, The Bishop Don Magic Juan, and Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul
The subject of this movie review is Starsky & Hutch, a 2004 crime comedy from director Todd Phillips. The film is based on the 1970s television series, Starsky & Hutch, a police drama-thriller that was created by William Blinn and was originally broadcast on the ABC television network from 1975 to 1979. The film is a kind of prequel to the original television series. Starsky & Hutch the movie follows two streetwise cops who fight crime in their red-and-white Ford Torino.
With my refined tastes, I should technically be repulsed by film remakes of 70’s television programs, but repulsed or otherwise, I’ll generally see them. Still, I’d planned on seeing the controversial Mel Gibson Jesus movie, but it was sold out, and there was the poster for Starsky & Hutch staring me in the face. Though I had to settle on something I hadn’t planned on seeing at the time, it didn’t really affect my enjoyment of Starsky and Hutch. It’s a fairly funny film, but you wouldn’t have missed a cinematic event that must be seen on the big screen if you’d waited for home video or TV.
Set in a sort of anachronistic version of the 1970’s, S&H is the story of two streetwise detectives who form an unlikely partnership. David Starsky (Ben Stiller) is an anal by-the-books guy, who actually does nothing but screw up, despite his attention to rules. Ken “Hutch” Hutchinson (Owen Wilson) is a genial kind of guy, always hanging loose, but he is also the kind of cop who breaks the law when it suits him. Hutch robs bookies for their loot, and he uses illegal drugs. The mismatched pair gets on the nerves of their boss, Captain Dobey (Fred Williamson), relies on tips from an omniscient street informer, Huggy Bear (Snoop Dogg), and busts crime in Starksy’s 1974 red-and-white, souped-up Ford Torino. Their first big case together involves a respectable businessman, Reese Feldman (Vince Vaughn), who may be a big time cocaine dealer. However, Starsky and Hutch’s bumbling and lack of hard evidence dog their case every step of the way.
Starsky & Hutch has some extremely hilarious moments, not as many as, say, Scary Movie 3. S&H is structured like SM3 in that S&H’s plot, story, and script are basically an elaborate, but dumb, blueprint to layout jokes. S&H’s script is, however, nothing like the disaster of that was SM3’s script. S&H also reminds me of another of director Todd Phillip’s hits, Old School (2003): lots of funny scenes, but ultimately a lame, by-the-book, Hollywood yuck fest that plays it way too safe.
This is also one of the times that Ben Stiller’s shtick, that of the angry, quick-tempered nerd, works for the film. Owen Wilson is a great screen presence; the camera loves him, and the role of the amiable Hutch easily fits Owen’s usually warm and generous film persona.
I generally enjoyed this film’s deep tongue in the tongue-in-cheek mode. Starsky and Hutch is not to be taken seriously, nor does the film try to make you do so. The quasi-70’s setting is a hoot, at least early on, but the film’s period atmosphere eventually dissolves into mere background noise. There should have been much more Snoop Dogg because he surprisingly has good screen presence. Also, Will Ferrell’s (who doesn’t get a screen credit) riotous turn as Big Earl, a man in the county lockup with serious man crush issues, is certainly a reason to see this film, at home or in a theatre.
5 of 10
B-
NOTES:
2005 Razzie Awards: 2 nominations: “Worst Actor” (Ben Stiller) and “Worst Supporting Actress” (Carmen Electra)
Updated: Sunday, October 20, 2013
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Saturday, October 19, 2013
Review: "Team America: World Police" is Crazy, Smart and True (Happy B'day, Trey Parker)
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 209 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux
Team America: World Police (2004)
Running time: 100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes)
MPAA – R for graphic, crude & sexual humor, violent images and strong language; all involving puppets
DIRECTOR: Trey Parker
WRITERS: Pam Brady, Matt Stone and Trey Parker
PRODUCERS: Scott Rudin, Matt Stone, and Trey Parker
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Bill Pope, A.S.C. (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Thomas M. Vogt
COMPOSER: Harry Gregson-Williams
COMEDY/ACTION/ADVENTURE
Starring: (voices) Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Kristen Miller, Masasa, Daran Norris, Phil Hendrie, Maurice LaMarche, and Paul Louis
The subject of this movie review is Team America: World Police, a 2004 satirical comedy film from the team of Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of the long-running animated series, “South Park.” The film’s cast is composed of marionettes (puppets) instead of live actors. Team America: World Police follows a popular Broadway actor who is recruited by an elite counter-terrorism organization to help stop a dictator who is plotting global terror attacks.
Team America: World Police may be 2004’s funniest film. Some may consider it the most obnoxious and crass movie of the year, especially after viewing the graphic puppet “sex scene.” It will certainly go down as one of the most outrageous movies not made by John Waters. It’s a wonderful send up of action movies, especially as those made by super-producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and the hilarious characters that populate them. Even the musical scores to Bruckheimer films get it up the butt and in the mouth from this movie. It’s also a wicked satire of American military aggression and the celebrities who protest it. However, as good as the film is (and it’s quite good), Team America: World Police frequently falls on its own spear.
Team America is an international police force dedicated to maintaining global security. And they’re also marionettes; you may best remember marionettes as those puppets on the venerable British TV children’s series, “Thunderbirds.” Team America’s latest mission takes them to Paris, France, where they fight a handful of terrorists with WMD’s, also known as weapons of mass destruction. Team America also manages to destroy Paris’ most famous landmarks, and also loose a team member to a terrorist’s bullets.
Team America’s leader, Spottswoode, a gray-headed, older, distinguished gentleman, recruits a young Broadway actor named Gary to replace the fallen comrade. Spottswoode thinks that Gary will make the perfect spy because in college he was a double major in theatre and world languages. The other Team America members: Lisa, Sarah, Chris, and Joe, are wary at first, but they back him up on their first mission to Cairo to infiltrate a band of Islamic fundamentalists with WMD’s.
There is however a larger crisis looming. Power-mad dictator Kim Jong Il of North Korea has planned a series of simultaneous global terror attacks – imagine 9/11 times 2356. He’s convinced the Hollywood Film Actors Guild, or F.A.G., and their leader, actor Alec Baldwin, to support a conference in North Korea in which all world leaders will attend. The conference is merely a cover for the launch of the worldwide terror strikes, which will occur while Baldwin gives his peacenik keynote speech. Can Team America stop Kim Jong Il…and the actors?
Team America: World Police is the second major studio film from Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of the uproarious and bawdy animated program, “South Park,” on Comedy Central. Team America, on one hand, is a delightful and loving send up of “Thunderbirds” and the other puppet marionette shows produced by England’s Century 21. On the other hand, the film is mostly a vicious and brutal satire of the contemporary American political landscape and American self-righteousness. The use of marionettes instead of actors greatly takes the sense of people getting made fun of to a level that human actors couldn’t go.
Parker/Stone use clever dialogue, over-the-top violence, and hyper-patriotic songs to skewer heavy-handed U.S. military offenses, strikes, and pre-emptive attacks on international locales. They also use marionettes that closely resemble well known Hollywood and celebrities that protest U.S. military action. The marionettes, in some cases, barely look like the stars that they’re supposed to resemble; in some cases the resemblance is just close enough not to get the filmmakers sued. Still, it works enough so that such stars as Alec Baldwin, Tim Robbins, Michael Moore, Susan Sarandon, Matt Damon, Helen Hunt and others are mercilessly lampooned.
But is the movie good? The answer is a resounding yes; it’s one of the funniest films I’ve seen in years. However, it is mean-spirited, graphic, obnoxious, brutal, vicious, vulgar, filthy, foul, nasty, rank, etc. Sometimes, I had a hard time believing that Parker and Stone were going so far in their satire and humor. Still, they’re not frat boys out of control; every joke and satirical comment and farcical moment seems well conceived.
Team America: World Police, in the end, takes the side of the “good guys,” but Parker and Stone obviously only trust them a little more than the “bad guys.” They insist that even the protagonists be viewed with a wary eye, so in the end, it’s as if they question that anyone can be trusted. Fighting assholes who want to kill everyone is a dirty job, and the heroes and their charges may not be “all that” themselves. Team America: World Police is not perfect, but it’s the work of frankly honest and only barely inhibited filmmakers. That’s refreshing when “looking good” is so important these days.
8 of 10
A
Updated: Saturday, October 19, 2013
The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.
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