Was a successful parody of the hit horror movie Scream. It was followed by four sequels. This film was marketed toward younger kids, while it was completely not kid friendly. Also appealed to the adult audience, but included teen puns. Not many parody horror movies had success in the 2000s. It was a frontier for American dark comedy. Inspired dark comedies like Epic Movie, Date Movie, Disaster Movie, and the list goes on. Shapiro Matthias. (2000). Movie Review. Scary Movie. Retrieved from http://www.christiananswers.net/spotlight/movies/2000/scarymovie.html
Super Troopers is a crime-comedy that takes place near the border of Canada. It follows five state troopers who seem to enjoy pranks and gags more than actually doing their police work. Their days of pranking and slacking off are cut short when the troopers suddenly find themselves attempting to solve a murder, bust a drug-smuggling ring, and avoid having their post eliminated by the state's impending budget cut. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 35% “Rotten” rating. Film critic Roger Ebert awarded the film 2½ stars out of 4, saying "I can't quite recommend it — it's too patched together — but I almost can; it's the kind of movie that makes you want to like it". The film would eventually become a cult movie with Esquire describing it as "shaggy-dog classic for Generation Y." In 2001, Super Troopers won the Audience Award at the South by South West Film Competition. https://sussle.org/t/Super_Troopers
Wet Hot American Summer is a satirical romantic comedy featuring an all-star cast including, Paul Rudd, Bradley Cooper, Michael Ian Black, Amy Poehler, and Elizabeth Banks. The film takes place at a summer camp in 1981. It spoofs the sex comedies that were aimed at teenage audiences of that era. The film was a critical and commercial failure but has since developed a cult following. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 32% rating. Actress Kristen Bell stated on NPR on September 2, 2012, that this was her favorite film of all time, having watched it "hundreds of times". NPR host Jesse Thorn said on the April 29, 2014, episode of Bullseye, "When someone has an open enough heart to accept this silliness - and that's what it's about for me, an open heart - if someone's heart is open to Wet Hot American Summer, they love it. And that's when I know that me and them, we've got an unbreakable bond. Together forever. Like camp counselors." https://sussle.org/t/Wet_Hot_American_Summer
Considered a cult movie because of its promoted values. Meant to replicate the same comedic experience as Animal House. Brought back old absurd college comedy. Mostly seen by college students and teens because of its scholastic relation. Was the wildest movie in the box office when released, but unpopular and badly reviewed. Didn’t compete with traditional cult movies and became outdated quickly. Gleiberman Own. (2002). Movies. National Lampoon's Van Wilder. Retrieved from http://www.ew.com/article/2002/04/03/national-lampoons-van-wilder
Old School follows Attorney, Mitch (Luke Wilson), after he finds out his girlfriend participates in orgies and feels as if his world is falling apart. He moves into a new house close to the local college which ends up being a party pad. They soon realize the house is supposed to be used for campus housing and need to vacate. Mitch and his two friends, Frank (Will Ferrell) and Bernard (Vince Vaughn), form a fraternity so the house maintains the Dean’s criteria for campus housing. The Dean attempts to revoke the fraternity chapter and the fight to stay on campus begins. Old School is considered the forerunner of the “Frat Pack” because three of its stars are core members in the group. The film received mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes said only 60% of critics gave the film a positive review. However, people grew to love the movie and was nominated at the Artios Awards for Best Casting, MTV Movie Awards for Best Comedic Performance and Beast On-Screen Team, and the Taurus Awardsfor Best Fire Stunt. A sequel was in the works, but Ferrell and Vaughn turned it down because they felt like it was just them back in a fraternity. “It just felt like it was repeating.” https://sussle.org/t/Old_School_%28film%29
EuroTrip was a 2004 teen comedy. This film coming just a few years after the raunchy teen comedies of the late 90s is no different. This film was brought to us by the producers of Old School and Road Trip, so if you are no stranger to nudity than this film was right up your alley. The plot is a couple of high school students decide to backpack across Europe in order to find a friend. One of the few things that stood this movie out from the rest of the pack was the hit song which was performed by actor Matt Damon in the movie, but originally written for the movie by the band Lustra.
This film is a comedic take on the culture of the 1970’s, primarily focusing on the “Action News” format. Famous San Diego anchorman (Will Ferrell) clashes with his new female counterpart (Christina Applegate). The first draft of Anchorman written by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay was very strange and wildly different from the film's final form; Adam McKay stated that the script originally included "a musical number with sharks". The film initially centered around the reporters tracking down a group of hippie bank robbers known as "The Alarm Clock". This version of the film was met with poor test audience results, and a significant portion of the film was re-written and re-shot to replace the Alarm Clock with the panda story that appeared in the final version. The physical appearance of the Ron Burgundy character was modeled after real-life news anchorman Harold Greene. Even though he didn’t appear in the final version of Anchorman, John C. Reilly attended an early read through and impressed Ferrell so much that a part in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby was developed for him. It is number 100 on Bravo's 100 funniest movies, number 6 on TimeOut's top 100 comedy films of all time, and 113 on Empire's 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. https://sussle.org/t/Anchorman%3A_The_Legend_of_Ron_Burgundy
Shaun of the Dead is a british horror parody about a zombie apocalypse. The film is a parody of George A. Romero’s zombie classic “Dawn of the Dead”. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost actually contacted George Romero to make sure that they could borrow the title and put a twist on it. George Romero had no problem and even became a fan of the movie. Along with some friends Pegg and Frost pitched the idea of a full length zombie comedy film. The idea sparked after an idea they got from an episode of Spaced. A comedy series that Pegg worked for. http://mentalfloss.com/article/74230/12-killer-facts-about-shaun-dead
Considered a “sex comedy” for its prominent story line. According to Garber “It was the film that launched (almost) a thousand bromantic comedies. It was the film that established Apatow not just as a Hollywood king (and, much more interestingly, queen)-maker, but also as a kind of cultural critic.” When released it was a hit, and brought attention to its unique genre. Prior to its release, American Pie was dominating the sex comedy genre. Later was parodied and turned into Dinner for Shmucks. Garber Megan. (2015). The Atlantic. The 40-Year-Old Virgin Is 10—And All Grown Up. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/08/the-40-year-old-virgin-and-the-life-of-american-adulthood/401687/
Talladega Nights is another Judd Apatow produced film starring Will Ferrell and John C. Riley. The movie is about Will Ferrell playing a NASCAR driver, and that’s exactly how it was pitched. Ferrell and co-writer Adam Mckay actually walked into Sony’s offices and said six words. “Will Ferrell as a NASCAR driver…”. The actor from the movie Borat also co-stars with Ferrell and Riley and plays a French racer. While being introduced at a speedway in North Carolina in character as Jean Girard, Cohen was booed by about 200,000 racing fans. Mckay was worried Cohen would get discouraged but he said he was use to it. http://mentalfloss.com/article/84295/13-fast-facts-about-talladega-nights-ballad-ricky-bobby
