Bringing this month to an end is the final film in Trey Parker and Matt Stone's collection, released way back in 2004. Trey and Matt have since carried on with 'South Park' and Trey's musical, 'The Book of Mormon'. But that's pretty much where they are nowadays, and God only knows if after 15 years Trey will return to the director's chair for another film. I, for one, love just about anything these guys do, so I hope so. Our adventure begins when Team America take down a terrorist threat in Paris, France, inadvertently causing a ton of damage by their own hands. This tells us what we need to know right away, in that much like with 'South Park', they're making a farce of over the top American patriotism. Anyway, the mission goes south when one of the members, Carson (Parker), is shot dead. In order to find a replacement, Spotswoode (Daran Norris), head of the team, heads to Broadway to pick up Gary Johnston (also Parker) - a "top gun actor" with majors in theater and world languages. The team needs him to act for them in order to eliminate a terrorist threat. However, things get twisted when we find out how deep things go when Kim Jong Il (also also Parker) gets involved. The story also follows the love interest between Gary and the team's psychologist, Lisa (Kristen Miller), and the complications of having a love interest on a team. But let's face it, the biggest chunk of this story is about terrorism, when back in 2004, people were still pretty fresh off 9/11. In a way, I see this as a love letter from Trey Parker for a few things. First and foremost, it's much like films and especially cartoons of the past, during wartime. It's shining a comedic light on an otherwise dire situation during a bad time in history. It's also a throwback to shows like 'The Thunderbirds', which also used marionette puppetry. Finally, it's kinda Trey's way of sticking it to a lot of the more famous celebrities, and causing plenty of Hollywood controversy. Some of these celebrity puppets include the likes of Alec Baldwin, George Clooney, Helen Hunt, Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Robbins, Sean Penn, Susan Sarandon and of course, Matt Damon. There's more to that list, but it's pretty big. Of course, the political controversy of it all got pretty out of hand at the time of its release. It was almost as if Trey and Matt had created the ultimate movie to piss everyone off. Meanwhile, fans like me who kinda get what they're going for, are just laughing it up the whole time due to just how over the top and silly the whole thing is. A movie about puppets managed to piss off a whole collective of people in some way shape or form. Although they seem done with making movies, I have to say that since they've been able to focus so much more on things like 'South Park', the quality has increased. That's just my humble opinion, but they're now the second longest running animated series of all time. We all know full well who has the #1 spot for that, I think. On top of that, 'Book of Mormon' has been doing gangbusters. So maybe returning to film and putting themselves out there THAT much isn't on their agenda. I hope to see more one day, but if not, 'Team America' would be an interesting movie to leave on.
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Continuing onto more familiar territory for everyone, let's take a look at Trey Parker and Matt Stone's probably most famous film - the 'South Park' movie. Hell, this was even in the running for Best Original Song for the 2000 Oscars. The song was 'Blame Canada', and I actually remember being kinda PO'ed about it at the time. But that was before I really got it. It was more a take on the way the stereotypical American patriot may see us Canadians rather than just a song that makes fun of Canada. Satire at its best, really. Being released in the summer of 1999, one should probably keep in mind before watching this that it was released just as the show was getting into its third season. So plenty of what we see in 'South Park' nowadays is yet non-existent for this film. Timmy and Jimmy didn't exist yet, and Butters was there, but really just some background kid at the time, getting his name the following month in the 'Two Men in a Hot Tub' episode... I may know too much about 'South Park'. Anyway, the film's plot centers, brilliantly enough, on a movie adaptation of the boys' favourite raunchy show, 'Terrence and Phillip'. The film manages to completely appall parents, while the kids are absorbing all of the wonderful new foul language it provides, seeing it over and over again and causing problems at school. This ultimately leads to Kyle's Mom taking matters into her own hands, and starting an all out war with Canada due to the harm the movie seems to be doing to their childrens' fragile little minds. The whole movie is pretty much, at least from my perspective, a farce onto itself. It's a metaphor for how censors and the like, will completely overreact to certain situations like movies or video games, without taking some of the responsibility themselves. It's a statement that it's much easier for people to point the finger than blame themselves. The film also plays out like something of a classic Disney animated adventure, in that there's song after song after song, making it a bit of a musical as well. This title also carries some of Trey's best song writing with songs like 'Up There' - seemingly a farce on 'The Little Mermaid's 'Part of Your World' in which Satan is singing about coming to Earth. Let's not leave out the enlongated version of 'Kyle's Mom's a Bitch' either, which is taken from the first season's Christmas special. If I'm perfectly honest, I feel like this movie actually makes for a great intro to what 'South Park' really is all about. It wears this deceptive mask of raunchy comedy with so many of its visuals and so much of its dialogue. But peaking from behind that mask, 'South Park' covers social and political issues with a lot of the subtext. If you can see past a lot of the rude comedy, you can find some brilliant writing, and this film is no exception. Even being such an early addition to 'South Park's library, I can still go back and watch this one today without it feeling too old or outdated. Great for any fan of the show! In the world of film, we have our film ratings that range from "G" to "R", covering pretty much all of your bases from impressionable children to adults who act like children. But then we have the extremely rare, often relatively pornographic "NC-17" rating that goes to a very small handful of movies. The most famous title that hold this rating is probably 'Showgirls', but the guys who did 'South Park' have one under their belt as well, with 'Orgazmo'. Joe Young (Trey Parker) is a simple, young Mormon man who is going door to door, constantly attempting to share his love of Jesus to no avail. Anyone he approaches seems to just rudely slam the door in poor Joe's face. Meanwhile, pornographic director Maxxx Orbison (Michael Dean Jacobs) is trying to direct a superhero themed adult film called, well, 'Orgazmo', also to no avail. The man who's playing his superhero figure ends up being a bit of a wimp, when he really needs to be able to fight and be a bad ass, even if it is just a pornographic movie. When Joe rings Maxxx's doorbell, he gets the bouncer treatment. However, Joe manages to defend himself, using what he knows from studying martial arts. This is seen by Maxxx, and before Joe knows it, he's roped into the world of pornography, as Maxxx's leading man. This happens to hilariously conflict with Joe's interests, in that anything and everything pornographic goes against his Mormon beliefs. But with the need to save up for a wedding to his beloved Lisa (Robyn Lynne Raab), he finds himself with very little choice. Soon enough, the whole thing goes from porn parody to superhero movie as Joe and his newfound actor friend Ben "Choda Boy" Chapleski (Dean Bachar) find themselves in hot water with a mob gang who is going after their Sushi shop owner friend G-Fresh (Masao Maki). Without so much more exposition, yes, they use the whole idea of Orgazmo and Choda Boy for their alter-egos (as if it wasn't obvious). In the crazy world of Trey Parker's imagination, this is probably the one of the four titles that holds the weakest link among them. However, at the same time, one REALLY has to know what their getting into with this whole thing. This is nothing but a fun, throw-your-brain-out-the-window parody of a porn parody (if that makes any damn sense). Being that it's a farce on adult films, I'll also add that good acting isn't something one should be looking for here either. Treat is AS an adult film, and you'll get through it so much easier. Usually Trey has something intelligent to say within the subtext of his creations (often along with Matt Stone). However, this just seemed like a goofy project he wanted to have a good time with. I suppose it could be seen as his take on how harsh the whole industry can be, with crooked directors and whatnot. However when real adult film actors and actresses are featured throughout the film (not the least of which is Ron Jeremy, himself) it's a bit hard to understand where it's all coming from. Once again, if you have the hour and a half to waste in front of the idiot box with this one, I say go for it. Sometimes you just need to put things on hold and have fun with something, and this is most definitely a film that falls into that category. I suppose that's what makes it the weakest of his films for me. This one came out just as Trey and Matt were gaining very newfound 'South Park' fame, so it floated below the radar for a whole lot of people, and still kinda does. So it's that neat little project he's got under his belt that's worth checking out at least once, if you're a fan of his work. Unlike the other three main titles, however, this one gets a bit stale upon several re-watches. Still though, it's worth checking out if you haven't yet. Just be 17 years or older if you're gonna view it. Or at the very least, mature enough to handle pornographic themes. Actually, in all honesty, this probably could have just been a solid R, but there we have it. Being that January was 'Python Month', I felt it only fitting to follow it up, in March, with 'Trey & Matt Month' (February was kinda on pause). The main reason for this, is that Python was a great influence to Trey Parker and Matt Stone when it comes to their craft. A very similar sense of humour often shines through, right down to the point of being, in my opinion, borderline offensive, but just kinda leaning on that border. 'Cannibal! The Musical' is one such film in which, at least I feel, I can find some Python-like humour throughout it. What we have here is a musical comedy that retells the story of a man named Alferd Packer (Trey Parker), also known as the Colorado Cannibal. Long story short, he was a guide for a party of prospectors, heading to Colorado territory to stake their claims, mining gold. A harsh winter hits, and the party resorts to cannibalism to stay alive. If you'd like to learn more, here's a Wiki article on the real guy. As disturbing as the whole idea all sounds, just keep in mind that this is Trey Parker and Matt Stone we're talking about. So much of this movie is done in an over the top, cartoonish way, and in all reality, it's bloody hilarious. You may just have to get yourself past the opening scene, where things get pretty graphic and gory - however, done with some practical effects that are pretty impressive for a couple of film school students at the time. This was done while Parker and Stone were enrolled at the University of Colorado at Boulder, released in 1993 - four years before they broke out with 'South Park'. The film also stars the likes of Matt Stone as James Humphrey, and Dian Bachar as George Noon. For those who may not remember Dian, he was the little guy from 'Baseketball' (if you've seen it). The others are pretty much no-names, but each does a good job with the role they're given. It's a good contrast of characters, and they all have equally funny moments throughout the film. Much of the story here is driven by Packer's search for his horse, Leanne; one big metaphor for his ex girlfriend leaving him. It's also here we learn that pretty much any time Parker names a character Leanne, it's in reference to his ex. The most famous character with this name is probably Cartman's mother from 'South Park', who also happens to be the town "slut". Anyway, if you really enjoy Trey and Matt's off the wall sense of humour, and have an appreciation for dark comedy, it's absolutely worth checking out. The tones of this movie are mostly high and positive, but when it gets dark, it gets hilariously dark. For an idea, it was released by Troma video - a company that delights in releasing dark comedies with over the top gore and/or special effects, most of which I have yet to see... I might have my next 'Under the Radar' project lined up now. |
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