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Well, first of all, I guess we should address the elephant in the blog. From the LA Times:
“MacGruber,” the latest “Saturday Night Live” skit to be mistakenly turned into a movie, bombed big time. It took in only $4.1 million in its opening weekend, the lowest debut for any major release this year. With hope, “SNL” executive producer Lorne Michaels will finally get the message and put this tired skit to sleep next fall when the show comes back.
Yikes. Of course, what is hilarious is that from where I am sitting (on a pile of garbage) 4.1 million dollars is still SO MANY DOLLARS. But I get it. That’s not enough! That being said, I don’t really understand why the movie’s economic failure would cause Lorne Michaels to pull the sketch from the show, considering that the sketch was successful enough to inspire and raise financing for an entire movie? But I’m sure whoever writes up the weekend’s Box Office data for the LA Times is a comedy professional whose opinions about what is and isn’t funny and what should and should not be on TV are very important and necessary and accurate. Definitely.
But so, MacGruber: not bad! Not GREAT but not bad!
The biggest problem with the movie, I think, is that when you play a comedic action movie pretty straight, ultimately you are getting the worst of both worlds: a watered down action movie and a watered down comedy. It’s sort of the same point I was trying to make with Kick-Ass, which is, like, if you throw in actual action sequences into a comedy movie to try and make it seem like a real action movie, it will mostly leave you wanting more on either side of the coin. It will end up being neither funny enough, nor actiony enough, for anyone’s tastes. So there’s that. The only time anyone has successfully made an enjoyable action-packed comedy was Die Hard With A Vengeance. Every time MacGruber delved into actual action sequences I delved into actual being kind of bored.
And the movie was a little too farty, in the end. For as much as I might criticize the Paul Blart Mall Fart-ization of American Comedy into a lowest-common-denominator fart-fest of lazy laughs, I can appreciate a good fart joke, AND I can recognize when even the fart jokes that people I admire make are too farty. And this had both. Some of the gross-out bathroom humor made me laugh and some of it did not make me laugh. WHAT A ROLLER-COASTER RIDE! The miracles, the magic miracles. But there weren’t a lot of jokes BESIDES fart jokes, and that was unfortunate. Unless threatening to cut someone’s dick off and shove it in his mouth counts as a joke, in which case there were two kinds of jokes: fart jokes and that kind.
All of that being said, I DID enjoy the movie. The volume of laughs may have been a little low, but the quality of the laughs was often very high. Some big laughs in there! Will Forte is so funny, and so is Kristen Wiig. NO AH-DUH. And together they are the funniest. And they know it. I’m not sure if you noticed (since I’m not even sure you saw this, since apparently no one did) but during the MacGruber-Vicki sex scene, Kristen Wiig kept turning her face away from the camera because she was clearly laughing. It’s fun to watch people have fun! My favorite parts of the movie were when MacGruber’s tough-guy-facade (which itself was a facade) would break down and he would whine or offer to suck a dick or be excited by how similar he and the bad guy’s van explosions were. I also laughed very hard at MacGruber’s notebook.
I didn’t even mind Ryan Phillipe, with his Silly Putty face and his male-impersonator voice.
Before the movie came out, some people compared it to Wayne’s World, and it’s unfortunate that those comparisons proved to be inaccurate. Not just because Wayne’s World was great, but because at the time that Wayne’s World came out, on my 40th birthday, it felt IMPORTANT. And it would be cool if there was another comedy like that: a cultural event comedy. A comedy that reminded people why comedies can be the best thing ever for real. I guess The Hangover was kind of like that, but not really. The Hangover wasn’t nearly as silly, or as fun. Or as inspirational. It’s main claim to fame (besides helping to introduce Zach Galifianakis to a much wider audience, which is, of course, important, but still) is making a TON of money. LOL?
And so we continue to wait for The One True Comedy. But at least we had some laughs to pass the ti–[EXPLOSION!]
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my favorite part of macgruber was in the end credits, where they thanked the BONER GHOST!
Did they really?! Oh man, so much props.
It’s not a big deal, and you probably didn’t even see it, but we’ve learned that the best thing to do is to just let the credits have sex with you.
“I’m at the Pentogon” was my favorite part of the movie.
“Macgruber, I love your hilarious penis jokes.”
“Well I love making them.”
“And I love hearing them.”
“It’s why I say them.”
“It’s why I listen.”
*stare*
Today, we all appreciate fart jokes.
Everyone except Tinypic, that is.
Did Kristin Wig turn her face away from the camera because she was scared of Will Forte’s boner ghost?
I ask because I refuse to see this movie. If you think I’m going to give this movie my money after what Ryan Phillipe did to the Star Wars franchise as Anakin Skywalker then you can forget it, pal.
Phantom Menace was not Ryan Phillipe’s fault. He was only 8.
HA! No I was talking about attack of the clone and revenge of the shit
Oh yeah, Send in the Clown and Episode III: Possibly Third Best were ruined by this guy:
Ah man I feel embarrassed because I am almost certain that I’m falling into a POST MODERN TRAP, but… maybe you don’t know that Ryan Phillippe wasn’t in any of those movies? Is that possible? If that is possible, I now reveal that the star of those movies was Hayden Christensen. Bring on the knowing downvotes…
Ha ha LOL. Don’t worry, ModestAlfred, there’s no trap and I don’t do downvotes and upvotes. Ryan Phillippe is just my pet name for Hayden Christiansen. Sorry you didn’t know that. You learn something new every day, friend.
I seriously find your sense of pride in refusing to vote endearing, Steve. And animatronic nightmare gotta have a code. This guy knows:
No homo.
JUST KIDDING! I’m not prejudiced
Damn, I miss The Wire. I’m jealous of people who haven’t seen The Wire, because they get to watch it for the first time. All hail Omar.
Wasn’t this made on a low-budget? What with the whole “being on TV first” thing?
So surely it’ll make back all the money it took to make, and then some more when it comes out on DVD? Hardly a failure, surely.
Nope. It did so poorly and scored so low with audiences that it will maybe not make back its $10 million budget (and does that even include marketing?). And who buys DVDs anymore? That’s exactly why movies have to do well in-theater. This state of affairs is too bad. I’d hoped MacGruber would help ratify the current generation of SNL stars beyond those in-the-know and announce them as truly bankable.
i mean, it had a budget of ten million, which i guess means that they made it in their dad’s garage or something. i admit that i’m part of the problem, because a) i want to see it and am in the target demographic, but b) i am not about to spend ten bucks on it when that is how much netflix costs for one month, and i am a patient guy. so, sorry i guess? sorry, macgruber?
yeah it cost 10 but all that advertising cost another 10 im sure…even then it will make its money back…most movies dont…
If you want to help it break even, text ‘FART’ to 90999
I saw it and I really really liked it. Also, for only taking in 4 mil, there were a surprising number of diehard fans in the audience. The theater was more than half empty but 4 different people comprising two separate groups dressed up as McGruber. Okay so finding a beige vest and a flannel shirt isn’t the hardest thing in the world but it was nice to see. Also, the origin story of why Cunth hates McGruber was absolutely brilliant.
i thought i saw this movie but then the acid wore off.
Should win awards for its sheer commitment to that removable car stereo gag. <3
The car stereo was my favorite part! And “WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO FUUUUUUCCCKK??”
No tips.
I enjoyed the movie but was saddened by the lack of Betty White.
I completely agree that if Will Forte had stuck 100% to the proud incompetence, and unbridled rage, I would have bought this movie so much harder. Instead we had some laborious moments like “You’re wearing a bullet-proof vest? Awesome.” and any time he was at the Pentagon (definitely not including asking what he can fuck).
And how lucky is Will Forte to get to Tommy Wiseau Kristen Wiig AND Maya Rudolph (and thin cemetary air)??
I agree with everything Gabe said but I also really loved it. I think it could have used a few more scenes where MacGruber tries to fix stuff using household materials. However, the structure of the movie was perfect and the laughs were big enough for me to overlook its flaws.
Also, the van explosion scene was a nice homage to Zoolander (that’s what that was right?).
p.s.
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Dieter Von Cunth intercepted my stupid joke!
Is it really considered a FLOP when in the opening weekend you’re up against the final (yeah rite) SHREK movie? The one franchise that redefined movie marketing? (Speaking of, why didn’t Tim & Eric do any Shrek promotions?)
Also you had the series finale of LOST. While I realize movie totals are tabulated before Sunday, you know some nerds out there were rewatching episodes on Friday & Saturday to get all amped up, ergo not going out to see the Gruubs.
But seriously, anybody could’ve predicted how much money this movie would (our wouldn’t) have made when it was up against SHREK. God.
I haven’t really watched SNL since 1993. I just don’t like staying up that late, even on a weekend, and if I am up that late, it probably means that I am doing something else. When I have seen it recently, Kristin Wiig and Will Forte have been the two actors whose work I’ve actually enjoyed. The Falconer skits were pretty funny.
I agree that the movie had funny parts and not funny parts. My problem was this: early on when he is putting together his crew, when the last fellow he recruits is gay, it got a big laugh. Now, I know that the point is that MacGruber is an actual aweful asshole and not a good person in any way, and his disgusted reaction to the one guy’s homosexuality is a joke on how aweful MacGruber is, I get it and I can think that is funny. However, in a mostly empty theater in rural Virginia, the laugher to me registered as “Ha ha, that dude is a fag” and not “Ah, the small minded MacGruber is confronted with something he is not comefortable with–I will laugh at him.” So this moment of critical grunting took me out of the film and I could not enjoy the rest.
I like the idea of a protagonist who is unlikeable and I think that can be funny, but I think we have to acknowlege that we are even beyond the age of anti-heroes. We are in the age of metaironic heroes and for every Borat and MacGruber who is terrible to show us the terrible, there will be a lot of people who will just make the same jokes over and over, forgetting why we made the in the first place, what the point of the humor was.
I’m sorry for over thinking it, but I just wasn’t feeling it.
To the good: I thought the soft focus lighting was nice, I thought Ryan Phillipe was pretty good and Kristin Wiig was terrific and underused. The best moments were not the celery stalks, but her quiet worried looks. A movie of that please?
It’s awful not “aweful”. What are you, Mans Shakespeare from the medieval English land? “Oh doth thou unsheeth thine sword and spear that aweful, rotten shade!”
This is fucking really funny.
Actually, in American English you’re supposed to put the end quotation mark outside the period. What are you, C.S. Steve Winwood Lewis?
dude you might be over-thinking MacGruber a little bit….
Can we agree that both pineapple express AND observe and report both provided lots of laughs and action?
Because I love both of those.
But I also liked Hot Rod.
Aaaaand I will probably see this once it’s the weekend again.
I agree that both pineapple express AND observe and report both provided lots of laughs and action, you are correct, tutuklaustein
I don’t really understand the relevancy here, but you sir just listed three of my favorite movies. So, yes I will agree.
“You’re all wet!”
on a side note, I really didn’t like Ryan Phillipe. He was the cardboard cut-outiest of cardboard cutouts. he could not have been in the movie at all and they would have lost about 2 jokes. to quote the movie “WEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAK!”
Still liked it though.
“if you throw in actual action sequences into a comedy movie to try and make it seem like a real action movie, it will mostly leave you wanting more on either side of the coin. It will end up being neither funny enough, nor actiony enough, for anyone’s tastes.”
I beg to differ! Have you guys forgotten Hot Fuzz? Granted, that could be defined as a parody, but it really makes more sense to call it an homage to the genre, and thus it qualifies in both fields.
i agree, but at he same time, a lot of hot fuzz’s appeal for me was that i had never seem a movie done this way before. it was either all jokes and a little crappy action or all action and dumb jokes. i think seeing innovation (at least from my perspective) makes me all happy, but it’s hard to use the same formula after.
I really liked this movie even with the celery joke FAIL. Was it worth 30 dollars (with popcorn)? Probablly not, but most movies today aren’t. Kristin Wiig stole it for me. The scenes where she was dressed up like MacGruber and the bad guy were awesome. I also like when MacGruber explained to Ryan Phillipe (all I have to say about Ryan Phillipe is WTF) why Cunth wanted to kill Maya Rudolph.
Um, I laughed a lot when he later ate the celery and said to Kristin Wiig, “I washed it” and mouthed to Ryan Phillipe that he didn’t. It was the lying about it that made it funny.
This movie was exactly what I thought it would be, in that I laughed out loud a couple of times and spent a lot time being grossed out and left the theater going, “Meh. That was thoroughly adequate.” Maybe it would have been more entertaining if I was high. Probably.
I will go on record as being perhaps the only monster who enjoyed Ryan Phillpe’s character, however. I appreciated the entertainment that came from Lt. Piper being the only person in the MacGruberverse who could see what a ridiculous, selfish fuck-up McGruber is. Kristen Wiig’s anxious tone and facial expressions were funny, but didn’t make me laugh nearly as much as Phillipe’s perpetual WTF?-face.
My reaction to this movie reminded me a lot of my reaction to the South Park movie: I laughed hard throughout both, but much of the laughter was “shock” laughter (especially during the ghost and non-ghost sex). I don’t know how funny I would think it was if I saw it again. Still, I think this is getting hit too hard by critics. Will Forte is so talented, and McGruber’s character made me die (the soft rock, the car stereo, etc.).
I would never recommend this movie to anyone BUT I LOVED IT. In that same breath, I have to say that I also love that big joke of the whole MacGruber spiel is that his name is MACGRUBER and what a funny name! You can tell how funny it is by how many times they say it in the movie.
I just wished they had made it the straight-up SILLIEST.
His wig during the monastery scene! Loved it.
Arg!
I own an MX-5(the non-realty-broker-cougar way of saying mazda miata), If I picked up a vest and a flannel MLIMcG.
It is like they took my pathetic life and spent a shit-ton of money to describe it, losing more than half in the procedure. I am afraid to see it. I will anyway. It realy does not help that my last name is very, very close to gruber. Fucking spooky.
Kristin Wiig is super-cute.
Is anyone else weirdly attracted to Will Forte but only as MacGruber?