South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.

Review #2226: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.

Cast: 

Trey Parker (Stan Marsh / Eric Cartman / Gregory / Satan / Mr. Garrison / Mr. Hat / Phillip Niles Argyle / Randy Marsh / Clyde Donovan / Tom – News Reporter / Midget in a Bikini / Bill Clinton / Canadian Ambassador / Bombardiers / Mr. Mackey / Army General / Ned Gerblansky / Bill Allen / Fosse McDonald / Christophe – Ze Mole / Big Gay Al (singing voice) / Adolf Hitler / additional voices), Matt Stone (Kyle Broflovski / Kenny McCormick (Hooded) / Saddam Hussein / Terrance Henry Stoot / Big Gay Al / Ticket Taker / Stuart McCormick / Jimbo Kearn / Gerald Broflovski / Butters Stotch / American Ambassador / additional voices), Mary Kay Bergman (Sheila Broflovski / Liane Cartman / Sharon Marsh / Carol McCormick / Wendy Testaburger / Clitoris / additional voices), Isaac Hayes (Chef), with Jesse Howell, Anthony Cross-Thomas & Franchesca Clifford (Ike Broflovski), Bruce Howell (Man in Theatre), Deb Adair (Woman in Theatre), Jennifer Howell (Bebe Stevens), George Clooney (Dr. Gouache), Brent Spiner (Conan O'Brien), Minnie Driver (Brooke Shields), Dave Foley (the Baldwin brothers), and Eric Idle (Dr. Vosknocker) Directed by Trey Parker.

Review: 

"We grew up with Monty Python, as fucked-up as that all was, and Dirty Harry and Charles Bronson and ultraviolence. People seem to forget that the world has been ultraviolent for a long time. Both of us — and all our friends — grew up in that culture, and we’re fine. There’s nothing about Marilyn Manson that says, “Pick up a gun and kill people.” And there’s nothing about South Park that says that, either." -Trey Parker 

" If there’s an overriding message in South Park, it’s just to question authority. That’s the shit we make fun of." -Matt Stone

Believe it or not, I have been waiting for this day to come for a while. In what I would call an "on-and-off basis", I watched at least a dozen episodes of a show that was for whatever reason shown late at night (the one that served as an affiliate for Fox) for at least a few weeks in that time where kids remember the weirdest things (as opposed to bad friends) watched when they are 27. That one was South Park, and it sure is a hell of a time trying to get the memory of stuff such as "Mecha-Streisand" out of your head. The genesis for what eventually became a television show on Comedy Central was a couple of stop motion animated short films as created and voiced by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who had first met in study at the University of Colorado. The shorts of "The Spirit of Christmas" featured a killer snowman and Jesus fighting Santa to go with a couple of kids that is all done on construction paper and 8mm film. Inspired by various programs such as Monty Python, the show (with all but its pilot using computer technology) that resulted from the folks that gave you Cannibal! The Musical (1993) and Orgazmo (1997) is one that has managed to stay on the air for over 25 years, although I have to admit that for some reason, only the early stuff (some favorites of the early stuff is the one where the kids try to get a cop to learn how to read or, well, "Jewbilee" [aired one month after the film] had Moses depicted as a dreidel and was hilarious) seems to attract my curiosity (incidentally Parker and Stone have noted their dislike of their earlier episodes in terms of writing, proving that sometimes ome really can just ignore recommendations). Anyway, the film was in mind as early as 1998, complete with the condition by Stone and Parker to have it an R rating. The episode "Death" was a key influence, since that one involved the comedy styling of Terrance & Phillip (fart jokes) offending parents enough to ditch their kids while they go off to protest (which naturally was Stone and Parker's response to certain criticism people had of the show). Parker and Stone wrote the film with Pam Brady while composer Marc Shaiman co-wrote the songs with Parker. Made at the same time that the show was in production with a slightly different animation usage (Alias|Wavefront PowerAnimator), the movie barely sneaked in with an R rating (evidently if you are a studio project, you get a specific target on your back when it comes to swearing) and was released on June 30, 1999 to general success.

Parker and Stone didn't make a second South Park film, but they did collaborate for a different kind of non-liveaction film in Team America: World Police (involving puppetry) five years later. Every so often, I have to remind myself that there is always someone pissy about folks saying swear words at certain moments. I enjoyed this about as well as I thought I would for a film that has a few amusing songs that actually work to the film's benefit. It manages to avoid most of the traps one can find when trying to adapt a show into a movie (such as feeling like just a compilation of episodes) with an engaging pace and plenty of ways to drain from the well of showmanship. Parker and Stone managing to make a film where one only needs three or four voices (which includes the smooth timing of Hayes and Bergman) to make something seem like, well, a film with cartoon atmosphere (such as with Cartman, probably the most amusing goon to ever terrorize the senses for laughter at and with). The songs hit that certain type of sweetspot in not overstating its welcome and, well, being pretty silly fun, particularly with "Blame Canada" in its scapegoating glory. Within a film involving a gay(ish) Satan and Saddam Hussein is also one about the dangers of parents trying to play scapegoat in blaming someone for what their kids pick up rather than looking in the mirror and actually making the effort to reach out to their kids. Amusingly enough, there were apparently a number of young folks who were reported to buy tickets for films adjacent to this one so they could try and sneak in. There is the usual type of creativity in havoc to be found here, such as the reveal of Hell (complete with song and ghosts of folks meant to generate biting one's lip such as George Burns or Ghandi) or the momentary bits of guest voices/making fun of certain people (incidentally, George Clooney had appeared in a previous South Park episode, voicing sounds of a gay dog). I can't resist the crude enjoyment, particularly since it proves that one can push the boundaries of animation in terms of crass nature to go with a message more interesting than corporate meandering. As a whole, the movie serves followers of the original show exactly what they would anticipate in anarchic charm without compromising its sense of self for a rewarding time in the full of piss and vinegar mindset.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.

Grosse Pointe Blank.

Review #1859: Grosse Pointe Blank.

Cast: 

John Cusack (Martin Q. Blank), Minnie Driver (Debi Newberry), Alan Arkin (Dr. Oatman), Dan Aykroyd (Grocer), Joan Cusack (Marcella), Jeremy Piven (Paul Spericki), Hank Azaria (CIA Agent Steven Lardner), Barbara Harris (Mary Blank), Mitchell Ryan (Mr. Bart Newberry), K. Todd Freeman (CIA Agent Kenneth McCullers), Michael Cudlitz (Bob Destepello), and Benny Urquidez (Felix La Poubelle) Directed by George Armitage.

Review: 

Yes, this was a movie script that was first written by a man who received an invitation to their 10th high school reunion. Michigan native Tom Jankiewicz worked as both an advertising copywriter, a substitute teacher and cashier when he was developing a script that would become this movie, which he started in 1991, which had a variety of characters that were based on people he had known (no, not the lead character). The script, when finally picked up for production, would feature re-writes that saw three people credited alongside Jankiewicz in the final version: John Cusack, Steve Pink, and D.V. DeVincentis. In the end, this was the only feature script that Jankiewicz would see made into a film, although he did serve as a script doctor on a handful of scripts while working primarily as an advertising copywriter and news-writer. In 2013, while participating in a question-and-answer session with college students about the movie, he collapsed and died; he was 49. Now, a film does need a solid director, which is where George Armitage comes into the picture, since Cusack sent him a copy of the script to see if he was interested. Born in Hartford with a move to California as a teenager, he started the road to filmmaking as a film fanatic who happened to study political science and economics at UCLA before being offered a mail room job at 20th Century Fox. He would do work for the studio on television while writing his first scripts in the mail room, most notably with Peyton Place. It was Roger Corman, who was there at the studio to make The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967), that helped inspire Armitage on his way to become a filmmaker, particularly his style of letting the actors improvise while getting his day in of shooting; he would write Gas-s-s-s (1970) for Corman (while also serving as an associate producer), and he was impressed enough to have Armitage direct his first film with Private Duty Nurses (1971). Armitage, when presented the script by the four writers, found himself having to guide them to cut down the script in pre-production in order to get it right for shooting (in a sense, he was doing un-credited script work, although he did not want to deal with the Writers Guild and their way of handling credits). It was shot three ways: the written version, a mildly understated version, and an over-the-top version, with the latter being generally utilized to go alongside actor improvisation. This was the fifth feature he directed in his career.

It's funny how you can make a movie about a morally flexible assassin trying to not satisfy their urge and end up having to do so anyway for a solid and clever movie, one that manages to get the finer points of what it really means to try and go home again. It is a coherent black comedy that rewards its viewer with solid characterization in the art of detachment and wry behavior that happens to also have a soundtrack by a member of the Clash. The strength comes from Cusack, wrapped in curiosity and well-placed timing in a character role that requires someone who can eke out something worthwhile in a mess of a character that isn't simply just a calm and collected mercenary. It all comes with the eyes of watching someone who has seen the other side of life and wants to come back, with a little bit of shooting on the side. Driver makes up the other part of the captivating chemistry that comes with the movie in passionate cynicism that has tried to re-invent themselves again and again only to find frustration and hesitancy, complete with sharing a kiss with Cusack from the get-go only to throw a mic on him to do on-the-air blasting in ten years of irritation. Of course, the other members of the cast lend a hand in curious charm, whether that involves Cusack and Cusack sharing brief scenes together or on the phone that matches stoic and chipper attitudes. Arkin makes a reluctant pairing with Cusack that results in a few good moments in the art of attempted conventional therapy. Aykroyd is enjoyably deranged here, making for a quality (union man) ham that makes a quality contrast to Cusack without overstepping him. The setup to get to the climax might be a bit convenient, but one could also find a variety of situations to be a series of convivences and coincidences, which it is really a dandy way of saying that some things are just fun enough to go with things. The 107 minute run-time makes for a pleasant breeze, one that carries its time back home with memories and long-gone people with select moments of action, most notably with a locker-room fight that is executed effectively. As a whole, Armitage and company cultivated a movie with plenty of lasting appeal that has not diminished in the 25 years that have followed the release of this film, one with capable wit and timing from its characters that make it a lingering classic worth checking out.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.