#Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer

[granitefilmreviews]

[adamwatchesmovies]

Vampires Suck (2010)

While I didn't enjoy this film, that doesn't mean you won't. No matter what I say, the people involved in this project did it: they actually made a movie. That's something to be applauded. With that established...

While Vampires Suck is an improvement over Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer's previous collaborations, this almost makes it worse. There are legitimately funny moments sprinkled here and there in this “Twilight” parody but just when your hopes begin to rise just a little bit, you’re hit with a deluge of groan-inducing pop-culture references, juvenile gags, unimaginative would-be jokes and farts.

Becca Crane (Jenn Proske, doing a good job lampooning Kristen Stewart’s character) moves to Sporks to live with her father, Sheriff Frank (Diedrich Bader). At school, she meets and is immediately smitten by Edward Sullen (Matt Lanter) whom she slowly (very slowly) deduces is a vampire. When he admits his affection for her, they try to build a relationship but how could a blood-sucking monster love a teenage girl?

In the above summary, you can spot one clever touch from the pair responsible for such 0-zero gems as Epic Movie and Meet the Spartans. “Edward Sullen” is pretty spot-on. “Becca Crane”? Not so much. At least it isn’t flat-out unfunny like so many of the film's torturously long scenes. If the film constantly found new ways to be bad it might be entertaining in a demented way, but that threshold is never reached. Most often, the jokes we get are the most obvious you could’ve made. It's as if the writer/directors committed to making the movie without any decent ideas, which is why Vampires Suck gets distracted from its subject matter and instead subjects us to people pretending to be the cast of Jersey Shore, Lady Gaga in a weird costume, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (at least that one's appropriate) and more. Of course, the directors assume you’re an idiot so every joke is spelled-out for you. If you have to explain why it’s funny… it probably isn’t funny.

If all the worthwhile moments in Vampires Suck were stitched together, you’d probably get about 5-minutes’ worth of footage - that's rounding up. It’s a testament to the true incompetence of the filmmakers because the movie doesn’t even parody the entire Twilight series. It stops at Eclipse (which was released the same year) and for this, there’s no excuse. Say what you will about the films based on Stephenie Meyer’s series. I’ve heard people make compelling arguments for the first one and I’ll take it over Fallen, After, Beastly, Red Riding Hood, and the other imitators. Even the most hardcore Twihards must admit what happens in Breaking Dawn is so utterly bizarre it naturally lends itself to jokes. The books were already out when this film was being made. There’s no reason for this spoof NOT to cover what would’ve taken place after Eclipse but instead, we get a non-ending. Were they expecting us to sit through another one of these? @$#%# me.

When your parody of the movie isn’t even as funny as the original, you’ve got problems. Do you want some laughs? Here’s what I recommend you do. Watch the original Twilight and then, do some digging. There’s a little-known, super-cheap, thoroughly incompetently-made knockoff called The Last Vampire on Earth. Watching those two films back-to-back brought my friends and me to tears. As for Vampires Suck, I laughed at Magicwandos' song My Panties but not much else. (On DVD, August 2, 2019)

[domono08]

On a ironic note,I love disaster movie!

[cinefilesreviews]

The Friedberg-Seltzer Massacre: Best Night Ever (2013) and Superfast! (2015)

The Friedberg-Seltzer Massacre: Best Night Ever (2013) and Superfast! (2015)

This is the sixth and final installment in “The Friedberg-Seltzer Massacre: How Two Men Single Handedly Destroyed the Parody Genre.” In pursuing this project, I did not set out to unilaterally pan the Friedberg and Seltzer oeuvre (as much as the hack, clickbait adjacent title might suggest). Sure, I find almost all of their work indefensible. But I endeavored to get closer to the heart of who…

[cavills-henry]

Meet the Spartans (2008)

Dir. by Jason Friedberg & Aaron Seltzer

[lovely-studies]

109/300 films in 2023

╰┈➤ Disaster Movie (2008)

Dir. Jason Friedberg, Aaron Seltzer

[tumblintuck]

Do you think Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer ever explored each other's bodies

[littletroubledgrrrl]

Since she used to appear in these Aaron Seltzer and Jason Friedberg movies ("Epic Movie", "Disaster Movie", "Meet the Spartans", etc.).

I wonder if when Aaron Seltzer and Jason Friedberg die, if there'll be people posting "You'll be missed Seltzerberg!" and "Thanks for the memories Seltzerberg!" and sharing their memories of their movies, despite their movies used to get major amounts of hatred and still do today?

When "Twilight" author Stephanie Meyers dies, will there be people posting "You'll be missed Stephanie!" and "Thanks for the memories!" to her, even though the "Twilight" books and movies got massive amounts of hatred and still do today.

Especially, when Snooki, The Situation, Pauly D, JWoww, etc. from "Jersey Shore", New York/Tiffany Pollard from Vh1's "Flavor or Love" and "I Love New York" or some other trashy reality TV star dies, will there be people posting "Thanks for the memories Snooki/Pauly D/The Situation/New York!" and "You'll be missed Snooki/Pauly D/The Situation!", at them, even though "Jersey Shore" and their stars used to get huge amounts of hatred?

Jerry Springer has recently died and there are so many people saying "You'll be missed Jerry!" and "Thanks for the memories Jerry!" fondly and not in a sarcastic tone and sharing their memories of his infamous talk show, even though his infamous talk show he'll always be remembered for used to get massive amounts of hatred and still even does today---"The Jerry Springer Show" used to get as much hatred as "Twilight", Seltzerberg parody movies and "Jersey Shore" got in this century.

Not to mention "The Jerry Springer Show" paved the way for a lot of these trashy 21st Century reality shows like "Jersey Shore" today, even Jerry himself admits that.

[pablolf]

Film Journal

"Vampires Suck" by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer

[saturdaynightmatinee]

CALIFICACIÓN PERSONAL: 5 / 10

Título Original: Spy Hard

Año: 1996

Duración: 85 min

País: Estados Unidos

Dirección: Rick Friedberg

Guion: Rick Friedberg, Dick Chudnow, Jason Friedberg, Aaron Seltzer

Música: Bill Conti

Fotografía: John R. Leonetti

Reparto: Leslie Nielsen, Nicollette Sheridan, Charles Durning, Andy Griffith, Elya Baskin, etc

Productora: Hollywood Pictures

Género: Comedy; Action

TRAILER:

[tctmp]

Comedy

[kevinsreviewcatalogue]

Review: The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)

Rated PG-13

Score: 5 out of 5

<Originally posted at https://kevinsreviewcatalogue.blogspot.com/2023/02/review-naked-gun-from-files-of-police.html>

The Naked Gun, a feature film version of the Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker team's short-lived but well-remembered 1982 ABC cop show parody Police Squad! (as its subtitle suggests), was the final movie that the three of them all worked on together, and it stands as a testament to why Jim Abrahams and the brothers David and Jerry Zucker are still considered some of the best film comics of all time, the capstone to an excellent run of madcap comedy spoofs spanning the late '70s and the '80s. The story, about the elite Los Angeles cop Frank Drebin investigating a drug ring that evolves into him foiling a plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II during her goodwill tour of the US, is secondary to ZAZ's trademark rapid-fire humor, where they never waste an opportunity to cram in some funny jokes into every scene possible, and even craft some running gags out of them. Fart jokes, sex jokes, pee jokes, jokes about bad driving, jokes about bad parking, jokes about refrigerators full of spoiled food, jokes about expensive objects getting destroyed, jokes about the beautiful woman whose longing over-the-shoulder stare at the protagonist means that she trips up because she's not watching where she's going, and above all else, jokes about bumbling cops who seem to solve the case purely by accident. It's a style of comedy that's harder to get right than it looks, as evidenced by the many films in the '90s and '00s that tried to imitate the ZAZ style, to varying degrees of success ranging from the Wayans Brothers' more Black-focused spin on the style to the absolute hackery of Aaron Seltzer and Jason Friedberg.

The key ingredient here is Leslie Nielsen as Frank Drebin in his stock comedy persona. The thing about Nielsen is that, prior to the '80s, he was known as a serious dramatic actor, and even here, he carries with him a particular type of old-fashioned leading man flair straight out of the '50s and '60s, all the better for him to play a parody of the kind of upright police officer that Jack Webb idealized in Dragnet. The thing about Nielsen is that, even when his character is in the middle of humorous situations and being made the butt of countless jokes, you can still picture him as the serious version of this character, the straightforward detective protagonist of a CBS cop drama. It's like watching David Caruso or Mark Harmon do a spoof of CSI or NCIS without once winking at the camera to let you know that they're in on the joke, even though all the humorous mishaps they get into indicate that they very much are. Nielsen was a master at this sort of humor, blending a straight-man persona with zany antics that are made that much funnier by the guy they're happening to, and this film is an ample demonstration of just why he was so good at this sort of comedy.

The machine-gun speed of the jokes, meanwhile, ensures that even the occasional groaner would quickly be forgotten once the next ten or so zingers whipped by, while the jokes that work never stick around for too long and wear out their welcome. The film's sense of humor is filthy enough for a PG-13 rating, but in a decidedly schoolboy manner, too amused by the comic slapstick it does so well to get really mean-spirited or offensive; you won't really find this movie punching down and mocking people who don't clearly deserve it. It aims its barbs upwards at authority figures, Frank most of all, and mines humor out of amusing scenes like a scared teenage student driver being forced into a car chase and turning into a legitimately badass driver, or Frank forgetting to turn off his microphone during a... private moment. There is a plot, and a host of supporting characters played by talented actors like Priscilla Presley, Ricardo Montalbán, and, uh, O. J. Simpson (as an LA cop!), but none of that is important, and neither are any greater themes; barring some jokes making fun of Frank's trigger-happy ways, don't expect to find much satire of real-life issues surrounding law enforcement. After all, this movie's not a satire, it's a farce, and it's interested in mining as many gut-busting laughs as it can out of as many people as it can.

The Bottom Line

The Naked Gun is another one of those quick reviews of a good comedy where there's not really much to say beyond "I laughed my ass off." Yeah, it's really funny, it still holds up, and I had a blast watching this at the Film Junkies' 35th anniversary screening. Not much more to say, except go check it out for yourself if you haven't.

[therealmrpositive]

Friedberg and Seltzer at the Movies Part 7: The Starving Games (2013)

In today's review, I fight for survival armed with nothing but a keen sense of humor. As I attempt a #positive review of the 2013 teen novel parody, The Starving Games #MaiaraWalsh #CodyChristian #BrantDaugherty #DiedrichBader #LaurenBowles #ChrisMarroy

After the start of the last decade, society was on the precipice of a paradigm shift, A lot of cultural touchstones were being unleashed at the time. Some to change how we live our lives and others to be forgotten fads. Resulting in a societal change that is up to the comedians of the time to try to reflect. In 2013, after tackling teen vampire romance, Friedberg and Seltzer turned their sights…

[ultimatela]

Super Heróis: A Liga da Injustiça (Disaster Movie), 2008

[filmsivewatchedthisyear]

Films I’ve Watched in 2020 (30/?)

The Starving Games (2013)

dir. Jason Friedberg, Aaron Seltzer

“Anywhere that's better than here. Darfur, Syria, New Jersey.”

[cinefilesreviews]

The Friedberg-Seltzer Massacre: Vampires Suck (2010), The Starving Games (2013)

The Friedberg-Seltzer Massacre: Vampires Suck (2010), The Starving Games (2013)

This is the fifth installment in “The Friedberg-Seltzer Massacre: How Two Men Single-Handedly Destroyed the Parody Genre.” In this penultimate installment, we will examine two of the late career parodies of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer: Vampires Suck and The Starving Games. As I see it, Friedberg and Seltzer’s career can be separated into two distinct phases. There are two reasons why I…