Mr. T in Not Another Teen Movie (2001)

 

"Not Another Teen Movie" is an over-the-top parody movie of the Teen movies of the 80s and 90s. It's extreme, it's stupid and it's offensive - and I mean that in the best way possible. I am a sucker for these spoof movies, granted, but I put this in the "best of the best" category within the genre.

Why is this not considered a classic? My best guess is: it may have gotten lost in the shuffle. It would be around this time or a little later that all the horrible "Scary Movie" cash grabs would start up and I suppose this might have been lumped into the same category and forgotten.

Regarding Mr. T, this is a strange role for the T man. Or actually, it's a standard role but within a strange genre for him. Raunchy sex movies are not Mr. T's style but yet here he is. When he did "D.C. Cab" he was almost apologetic about its R rating and how it didn't agree with his values. With "D.C. Cab" you could make the case that he was just starting out and desperate for roles. But that isn't the case here.

As in "Spy Hard," it's a very small role - Mr. T plays the Wise Janitor Here to Impart Knowledge. And he also is dressed as a rather random homage to "I Know What You Did Last Summer".

Mr. T coaches Captain America

The joke that stood out to me most, watching it this time around, is the football coach. That actor commits to the bit. He acts with the fire of a thousand suns. The other joke - that got me this time but always gets me - is "Do it for Marty's torso!" Classic. The "cheertator" speech is great too. I could go on and on.

Movie Review: We Made This Movie

We Made This Movie (2012)

A group of high-school kids attempt to make a prank/stunt comedy a la Tom Green or "Jackass". As they increasingly discover that they don't know what they're doing and, more importantly, they discover that the movie they're making sucks. But as the movie sucks, the documentary feature about the making of the movie emerges as the story really worth telling. This is that movie.

Posing as a documentary film made by kids, starring young unknowns, shown for free on the internet and released only on itunes - the movie is very much an "independent" movie and, who knows, probably represents an entirely new model for making and releasing movies.

As with "Swingers" or "Diner" most of the comedy comes from the interplay between the young characters with a good deal of improvisation sprinkled in. Particularly as "stunts" go awry, the characters are overheard making witticisms about how much they suck and how stupid they look. Here, the movie feels like an extended video on "Funny or Die" or "Cracked.com" - they're a little too witty, a little too slick to be believed as real people. The illusion is everything. It's easy to laugh at a real person;  but harder to laugh at actors trying to be funny.

But it's when the movie turns from comedy to drama that it really picks up steam. The movie within the movie isn't just a goof, we learn, it's a flailing attempt for a future - any future. It's a desperate attempt to escape their small town and be better than their parents. Just as in the best teen movies ("Cemetery Junction", "The Breakfast Club"), the characters face a future of uncertainty - they're not sure what they want to be as much as they're sure about what they don't want to be. Maybe chickens aren't destined to fly but the question is: do they have to end up in a cage?

6/10.