Team America: World Police
I also saw the cuss-tacular Team America: World Police this week, and I can't decided if it was great or just good. It's a comedy, and what's the first rule of comedy, kids? That's right, comedy must be funny. And the movie is pretty dang funny. It's worth seeing just for the songs -- "America, f__ yeah!" the theme song of the Team, sounds like a commerical for action figures from the 80's. It's funny because hicks think like that. I also like how they do a "sensitive" version of the same song at the end when things are supposed to be emotionally down. The "patriotic country song" with shots of the main puppet at national monuments is a nice touch. I especially liked the final line, which went something like, "Everybody has to put their buck-o-five in for freedom -- freedom costs a buck-o-five", and then it trails off.
Maybe I should watch more South Park, since I liked the movie so much. I don't know -- I'm not one of those people who finds people cussing up a storm particularly funny. But the satire is so good, and so sharp, and so unique. Does South Park do that, too? I remember watching one South Park after the 2000 elections, where they did class elections where a girl named "Flora" couldn't make up her mind, and that was pretty funny. I'll watch some more of this show and get back to you.
The funniest thing about TA:WP is the fact that puppets, or more accurately marionettes, cannot move very well. They do a parody of that scene in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 where O-Ren and her Inner Circle are walking down the hallway with cool music playing in the background. But the puppets can't strut, they can barely even walk. They're just dangling around. So it's funny. And there's a lot of that.
The movie's satire, and straight-out desire to offend, is what's getting the most press. For example, Michael Moore is portrayed as a suicide bomber two-fisting hot dogs with mustard on his sweater. All the satire is saying is that "people are idiots", and that's a point that many many people need to hear, starting with those self-important messianic-complex-having actors who have spoken out against the war. Everyone who cringed when the Left took up arms for the Dixie Chicks when it was clear they didn't have any idea what the hell they were talking about will find a friend in this movie.
And in the end, the movie seems to be making a case (albeit not very seriously) for American intervention vs. American inaction(and UN control of things -- told through a particularly biting scene involving a Hans Blix puppet), although not the kind of intervention where we think we're the World Police and let puppets pull our strings. I never thought a movie with this much stupid crap and cheap cussy laughs could be this deep. Ok, I've decided -- it's a great movie. But one that many people will be offended by.
Like Sean Penn, who has I think taken out ad space somewhere ripping Parker and Stone, the creators of the movie, for 1) being nice to his face but then ripping him in the movie; 2) having the audacity to suggest that people who don't know anything about the candidates shouldn't vote; 3) making fun of his trip to Iraq. He even offers to take them to Iraq and then see if they still want to mock him. It's just this sort of thing (taking ad space out somewhere to defend his oh-so-important statements) that makes him the perfect target for satire. Don't these people get it?
Maybe I should watch more South Park, since I liked the movie so much. I don't know -- I'm not one of those people who finds people cussing up a storm particularly funny. But the satire is so good, and so sharp, and so unique. Does South Park do that, too? I remember watching one South Park after the 2000 elections, where they did class elections where a girl named "Flora" couldn't make up her mind, and that was pretty funny. I'll watch some more of this show and get back to you.
The funniest thing about TA:WP is the fact that puppets, or more accurately marionettes, cannot move very well. They do a parody of that scene in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 where O-Ren and her Inner Circle are walking down the hallway with cool music playing in the background. But the puppets can't strut, they can barely even walk. They're just dangling around. So it's funny. And there's a lot of that.
The movie's satire, and straight-out desire to offend, is what's getting the most press. For example, Michael Moore is portrayed as a suicide bomber two-fisting hot dogs with mustard on his sweater. All the satire is saying is that "people are idiots", and that's a point that many many people need to hear, starting with those self-important messianic-complex-having actors who have spoken out against the war. Everyone who cringed when the Left took up arms for the Dixie Chicks when it was clear they didn't have any idea what the hell they were talking about will find a friend in this movie.
And in the end, the movie seems to be making a case (albeit not very seriously) for American intervention vs. American inaction(and UN control of things -- told through a particularly biting scene involving a Hans Blix puppet), although not the kind of intervention where we think we're the World Police and let puppets pull our strings. I never thought a movie with this much stupid crap and cheap cussy laughs could be this deep. Ok, I've decided -- it's a great movie. But one that many people will be offended by.
Like Sean Penn, who has I think taken out ad space somewhere ripping Parker and Stone, the creators of the movie, for 1) being nice to his face but then ripping him in the movie; 2) having the audacity to suggest that people who don't know anything about the candidates shouldn't vote; 3) making fun of his trip to Iraq. He even offers to take them to Iraq and then see if they still want to mock him. It's just this sort of thing (taking ad space out somewhere to defend his oh-so-important statements) that makes him the perfect target for satire. Don't these people get it?
posted by Mike Pape @ 7:14 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home