Cool News
A FAMILY GUY Fan Likes The STEWIE GRIFFIN DVD Movie!!
SPOILER ALERT !!
I am – Hercules!!
"Family Guy Presents. Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story”
“streets,” as the kids say, on Sept. 27. Here’s “Tall Boy” with a review:
Well, the direct-to-DVD Family Guy movie, “Stewie Griffin: The Untold
Story”
has hit the torrent sites, so all those greasy movie pirates can get
their
hands on it. Not me, though. My copy was delivered to my door by the
Stork. *ahem*
Off the top, I want to say I like Family Guy Season 4. Its great to
see the
show back on the air again, and I don’t think they’ve “lost it” or
“FAMILY
GUY SUXS NOW!” The only difference I can tell in the new episodes is
that
they try a single flat out “shock value” gag every week, as opposed to
every
few episodes like in Seasons 1 – 3. But, c’mon people, stop spreading
the
hate! We got Family Guy back on the air – the geeks won for once! Let
us
rejoice and caper and so forth.
Anyway, “Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story”. Right.
First thing’s first. This is rumour control and these are the facts:
1) The whole “Stewie goes on a road trip and discovers that he’s gay”
rumour / plot thingie that was mentioned when the DVD was first
announced –
nope, not in here. Well, ok, there’s a bunch of subtexual stuff you can
read
into the 3rd act/episode about Stewie being gay, but its not explicitly
stated - he doesn’t “out” himself and that’s not an element of the plot
….
Was that rumour ever legit in the first place? Sheesh.
2) As for the hullabaloo about this DVD being Family Guy “UNLEASHED!”
and
“UNCENSORED!” – its fairly standard Family Guy stuff. Ok, they do drop
a
few F-bombs here and there - and by “here and there” I mean 2 in the
first
50 minutes and then about a dozen more in the last 20. Its like they
realized, “Damn, we can swear in this!” right at the end. To be fair,
the
2nd F-bomb that is used is very funny . . . and people will accuse it
of
being stolen from “Anchorman”. Ah well. But if you were wishing /
hoping
for “South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut” levels of unleashed
profanity,
this isn’t it. Probably because that “Untold” will be aired on FOX
eventually so they couldn’t just have full-on penetration shots or
whatever
sickos like you and me are looking for. However, if the biggest
complaint
about “Untold” is that there isn’t enough swearing in it, that ain’t
much of
a complaint at all.
Key to understanding “Untold” is that it is, aside from the (very
funny) DVD
premiere bookend scenes (totalling about 15+ minutes of screentime), it
is
basically a supersized 3-part episode of Family Guy. I mean that very
literally; you can see where they would transition from one episode to
another and the opening credits include writing stamp for “Part 1”,
“Part
2”, “Part 3”. There are complete “B-plots” that are wrapped up in 20
minutes
in the first 2 episodes. So if anyone is pissed at this, cry “RIP
OFF!!”
and let slip the dogs of Talkback. The disconnected feel of it is
probably
because “Untold” is going to air on FOX as a 3-parter. However, the
individual episodes that make up “Untold” are a little longer than your
average episode, so a whole bunch of stuff is going to have to be cut
out.
The opening act / episode is about Stewie learning to swim which leads
to a
near-death experience after he tries to blow up the best swimmer in the
class. The “B plot” in this episode is Peter getting a job as a
talking
head on Channel 5 Action News for the new “Grind My Gears” segment.
There’s
some real fun stuff if you love Tom Tucker and Diane Simmons. (is it
just me
or is Diane’s rack getting bigger every season? Anyone? Nah, its
probably
me.) Peter’s antics aside, there is also a great bit when Stewie and
Brain
go out and get trashed at the Drunken Clam. Stewie singing “Suicide
Is
Painless” and seeing the two bicker over a game of Pac Man (“I’m not
gonna
get the fruit, there’s a ghost right there!!”) is a fun character
moment
between the duo. This all wraps up with a shocking revelation that
leads to
the next Act. (on TV, this’ll probably be followed by a subpar episode
of
“American Dad”. Joy.)
Act 2 / episode 2 is Stewie and Brian setting out to find a man whom
Stewie
believes is his real dad they hitch a ride with Quagmire on his “Cross
Cuntry Tour” (no, that’s not a typo). Its basically another “Road to
Rode
Island” / “Road to Europe” episode. I really like those episodes, so I
enjoyed it. (the opening credits of “Untold” recalls the opening
credits of
those 2 episodes – check out the blink-and-you’ll miss it Star Trek V
reference) The “B-plot” of this segment is Lois and Peter teaching Meg
and
Chris how to hook up with the opposite sex. (“Meg, when you’re done
with
me, you’ll be beatin’ guys off with both hands!” Peter enthusiastically
predicts.) But the real strength of this is, as always, seeing Stewie
and
Brian bounce off each other. Ah, odd couple pairings. God, I love the
classics.
The best stuff is the 3rd act / episode, and I don’t want to spoil the
twist
that drives the episode. Besides, it’ll probably A) already been
spoiled B)
be spoiled in other reviews or C) will be spoiled in the Talkbacks
anyway BY
SOMEONE POSTING IN CAPITAL LETTERS!!! So just scroll down if you want
to
find out.
Now that I think about it, I may be too harsh on this whole “3-parter”
thing
because the main plot wraps up nicely, and even the dating b-plot from
the
previous episode are given an interesting twist. But it its rough to
say it
holds together as an entire “movie” – each act is structured as an
episode
so inside each episode there’s another 3 acts! It can get kind of
aggravating if you’re thinking that hard, but it doesn’t shoot a hole
in the
plot or anything.
But, seriously, screw all that noise. This is Freakin’ Family Guy
we’re
talkin’ about here – what does plot matter? Honestly. We all know what
the
show is really about – randomness and small little crazy moments.
In an average episode of Family Guy there’s about 10 minutes of story
and 12
minutes of just randomly bizarre, cutaway comedic non-sequiturs. And
this
is magnified times 3.5 over the course of “Untold”. Now, if you’ve
chain
watched Family Guy episodes after picking up the DVD sets (and I know
you
have. Yes, you.) this’ll be easy and fun to sit through. For the
uninitiated, their heads might explode.
As for the cutaways / “Do you remember when” / “this is like the time”
jokes, there’s a lot of good, solid geek references throughout:
Superman and
Wonder Woman, Thundercats, “These aren’t the droids you’re looking
for”,
Steve Bartman, 2 Indiana Jones references, and more. These gags happen
approximately every 30 seconds and some people will either love it or
hate
it.
To be fair, not all of these are just a sampling of pop culture
references.
For every Johnny Quest gag there’s another character based or bizarre
situational cutaway / gag waiting immediately after that. So before
more
rants start up about, “Blah, blah, blah, stupid Family Guy is stupid
because
its just about stupid pop culture references, you stupids.” No, it’s
not.
Shut up.
For my money, the best jokes in the whole movie are 1) “This is even
more
disturbing than that cartoon is saw the other day” (I’ve been waiting
to see
something like that for years) 2) the scene when Stewie is all hopped
up on
pills he got at a truck stop (“The Pioneers, Brian! We share their
spirits!
Manifest destiny!!”) 3) Peter’s butchering of the Spider-Man theme
song as
he seduces Lois. 4) Wacky Wavy Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man!
(“African
American? Hail a cab!”) Oh, and there’s also a good gag involving
Micheal
Chiklis and a talking pair of testicles (this joke probably won’t make
it to
air on TV) And also the real funny Futurama/ Entertainment Weekly /
neck
breaking gag at the start of the movie. Really, I could sit here and
rattle
off a dozen different quickie gags, but you get the point, its all
bizarre
“Family Guy” randomness fun and the tally is higher on the “hits” than
the
“miss” scoreboard.
For Family Guy freaks, all whole bunch of minor characters pop up
throughout
– greased Up Deaf Guy, Randy Newman, Blackie Williams, Evil Monkey,
Mayor
Adam West, and others. But they never overpower the scenes; they just
pop
up, do their thing and take off. There’s at least 3 scenes of someone
getting hurt and failing around on the ground in agony. No giant
chicken
fight gag, though. Sorry.
The voice actors (ie. Mostly Seth McFarlane) are all in top form. For
some
reason, I always laugh whenever Stewie starts yelling. Alex Borstien
seems
to really enjoy saying the word “Fuck”. I believe that Milia Klunis is
starting to become much, much better at this whole voice acting thing.
Maybe the time off did her good, but Meg seems to “pop” a lot more in
Season
4 than she did in previously. And, yes, the continual, mean-spirited,
random
put-downs of her character continue unabated in “Untold”.
So the big $30.00 list-price question would be: is this worth your
cash?
For Family Guy geeks, fans and DVD completists, that’s a big yes.
Sure,
it’ll air for free on TV as a 3-parter (and probably on the eventual
Season
4 DVD set), but they’ll have to hack it to iddy biddy bits to meet the
airtime requirements. All of these random little moments will be
chopped
out and the smattering of “edgier” materiel will be gone. So just for
little things that’ll be lost once “Untold” is churned through the Fox
censor sanitizer, this is worth the purchase. Its as much fun as
Family Guy
can be and the flick is very rewatchable (I’ve watched it twice already
today). As for people who would just be casually interested in it –
wait for
it to air on FOX and then pick up the DVD later on if you like what you
see.
“Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story” pretty great all around for people
who
love the show. Just don’t expect anything too different. Its not
“South
Park: BLU” or anything, but it’s a decent set of episodes rolled
together.
Besides, I still want to see what special features they pack onto this
bad
boy when it’s released. Anyway, I better roll now. This “review” is
dragging on too long and pointless, and the Stork is demanding to do
perverse things to my body as payment for the DVD. Enjoy the flick/ 3
parter!
Either trollin’ in the AICN talkbacks, or standing in front of you @ a
concert, I’m still:
Tall_Boy
PS – I am a plant on the FOX payroll.
Family Guy Presents. Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story
Were Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader two different people in the early drafts of “The Empire Strikes Back”? All is revealed in The Annotated Screenplays (Star Wars, Episodes IV-VI)!!
Look! A fabulous new book co-edited by big-deal "Buffy"-"Firefly"-"Gilmore Girls" TV writer Jane Espenson. She introduces each of the essays, and the whole book besides:
Finding Serenity: Anti-Heroes, Lost Shepherds and Space Hookers in Joss Whedon's Firefly!!
Look! A new book by
“Freaks & Geeks” creator Paul Feig!
Superstud: Or How I Became a 24-Year-Old Virgin!!
Look! Christina Ricci cavorts nakedly!
Prozac Nation on DVD!!
Look! Original casting tapes! Deleted scenes!
Audio commentaries! Backstage with Drive Shaft!
Lost: The Complete First Season on DVD!!
-
+ Expand All
-
.....probably not
-
I disagree. I was disappointed with the "movie" and thought it was 3 weak episodes rolled into one. The stuff they've been airing on TV so far this season is funnier. This one is a renter.
-
It looks like i am!! All you first haters can suck my dick! Posting about people who post first is quite possibly the gayest thing on these message boards. At least the damn hulk hogan references slowed down. "I'm first brother!!"
-
wanna-bang-go. lol
-
Frist..
-
Hey why not some hot Lois nudity, (besides her butt) or at least some Meg nudity?
-
I saw it, and the only good part is part 3. Ocasionally. And yes, i don't like Season 4 at all, though I do like the first three. It's actually the worst parts of season 4 all thrown together, though the Steve Bartman gag made me laugh. Watch it on FOX. Or download it. Just don't pay for it.
-
30 bucks for something that might air on TV.. myehhhhh
-
but hey, to each his own. Golden Girls ran for years and I never watched that. there's a place on a network schedule for anything.
-
Jul 28, 2005 9:17:30 AM CDT
If you don't like "it" then why are you on the Family Guy ta
by akira'scrow
-
rather than try to cut it down to fit into 90 minutes.
-
first their show begins to suck now family guy makes a movie before them
-
It doesn't compare to some of the episodes so far this year, especially this past Sunday's. The bookend movie premiere bits are just absolutely awful, and the plots seem rehashed from older episodes. The review pointed out the best parts though, Michael Chiklis and Star Trek V (which really is blink-and-miss).
-
Family Guy is like smoking, or drinking beer. When you first try it, it's gross and you cough and sputter all over the place. Stewie doesn't seem funny, the "this is like the time when..." bits seem too random and out of left field, and the gag where they have Peter do something over and over and over, well past the point at which they should have stopped even if repetition was the gag, are just annoying and almost painful. But then, just like smoking and drinking beer, you reach a point where you've done it enough that you suddenly plateau, and it becomes hugely enjoyable. All three of the things listed above become laugh out loud funny. Don't be some kind of Mormon. Stick with Family Guy until you grow into it.
-
Just in case the film is too intense for you and you want to stop it.
-
I'm a huge Family Guy fan and I've been loving this season. One psoter made a comment a while back that these minor characters are getting too much screen time. I saw what he meant, but didn't necessarily agree. Last week's episode though had the greased up deaf guy terrorizing a store owner for absolutely NO reason. This is where I called overkill. They've used him enough already. They could have thought of a better character for the joke they were doing.
-
Like a plant but taller. Pffffffttt!
-
every season, but the woman who does her voice (Lori Alan) sure has some tig ol'bitties. Check her out in Comic Book: The Movie. You don't see her topless, but they are there.
-
Historically, 30 minute comedies do not translate well to long format movies since a certain amount of padding is always added. Family Guy works great in the standard 22 minute format, but I'm guessing what some of the talkbackers above are saying is that it is unable to sustain it's signature fast paced 30-joke-a-minute style or that it just wears you out and stops being as much fun after a certain point. As much as I love Futurama and hope against hope that the recent rumors of it's own direct to DVD movie come true, at the same time I'm concerned that it won't be the same in a 90 minute chunk.
-
"Go fuck yourself, Quahog".
-
I totally love the Family Guy series. The movie has lots of good stuff in there, but also plenty of times where it plodded along. Also too many American specific jokes for my tastes - referring to celebrities/TV shows/Theme tunes - that never got shown or have even been heard of anywhere else in the world. In a 23min weekly show I can let them fly right over my head, but over 90mins there are too many to let slide. Like when Stewie is in Hell with some bloke and then the guy flicks the channels to find the same music playing on all of them. Who the fuck was that bloke and what was he doomed to watch for eternity? I get the level that you assumed he was gonna fuck Stewie and that the TV show must be shitty. Beyond that I have not a fucking clue. It's a shame the assumed audience of FG is so narrow.
-
You mean to tell me a show written by and starring Americans, which airs on an American television network, references popular American culture? For shame. If I judged the Office based on the fact that I didn't get all the Britishisms, everyone in talkback would be on my ass about my my inability to appreciate a show specific to a culture that I'm not a part of. You can only make something so "universal" before it ceases to have any character of its own.
-
Maybe that's too harsh. But if you don't like Family Guy, you don't have a sense of humor, that's for sure. Still the funniest show on TV and the only one that makes me laugh out loud consistantly.
-
The review's pretty accurate to how I felt, but it felt to me like there were a lot less jokes than you get in your average episodes of Family Guy. I'm loving Season 4, but if you broke the movie into the three episodes, not one of them would come close to the best stuff they've had this season.
-
Sword of Omens, give me sight beyond sight...
-
Sword of Omens, give me sight beyond sight...
-
Gotta love that Quagmire!
-
Jul 28, 2005 4:04:58 PM CDT
I noticed a difference in Family Guy is this season, but I love
by mr. profit
And unlike South Park they work the second and even third times. I love the Asiantown episode. The Trix Bit and the Asian Three's Company jokes were fucking hilarious. And Ms. Swan popping up on an episode was out of nowhere and funny. Alex Borenstein is a funny woman. I cant wait for Season 5 to start in September. Finally Family Guy is doing well in the ratings, and hopefully will continue to ejoy for seasons to come.
-
If I remember correctly, there was a trilogy of Stewie centric episodes in the lineup for the fourth season. I remember that because it made me groan a little (stewie's not my fav). So, I would assume that this movie is just those 3 episodes that are still going to be aired on Fox at some time.
-
This is rather runderwhelming actually. Not as good as a 30 min episode. The writing is extremely lazy and there are countless missed opportunities for gags. The best cutaway is the Thundercats one though: "Give me sight beyond sight!"
-
My friend swears its already Pirated on the Net, could that be?
-
Jul 28, 2005 7:21:53 PM CDT
Economics 101: $40 for an entire season on dvd, but put 3 episod
by frankdrebin
Off the topic, does anyone else smell Astroglide?
-
As for stretching it out, there isn't as much stretching going on as any of your run of the mill Family Guy episode can be accused of "stretching" stuff out. Like I said, it
-
I saw the film Monday night and I'm still laughing out loud at Jesus and his over-exaggarated abilities. Funniest cartoon moment since Itchy cut Scatchy's knees and breasts off with a chainsaw. Interested to see if the jesus joke is one of the cuts for TV. As a whole, I thought the 3 episodes were as good as the rest of S4, but then again my favourite family guy episodes have always been the Stewie/Brian road trips. There is more Stewie is this then regular episodes, which is fine by me, but may explain why those who don't think a murderous baby Rex Harrison is just, well, insanely genius, might be a bit cold to it.
-
Definitely one of the funniest shows ever. I know some people can't see past what it was originally, but right now it's one of the funniest and cleverest shows on TV, and in my opinion, it doesn't get odl on repeat viewings. Why? Because some things are so ridiculous on the show. ie. Crab people, Raisins, Cartman humming the Dawson's Creek theme as he beats a guy to death, "The Gelgamec vagina is 6 feet long and filled iwth razor sharp teeth..." And Trey Parker has written EVERY episode. Incredible.
-
Jul 28, 2005 11:58:16 PM CDT
"Bono quit screwing around and open up that crate of food!"
by archduke_chocula
"I can't Peter i'm saving it fer the starvin' children."
-
Jul 29, 2005 1:24:11 AM CDT
Hey, I love South Park,. One of the few shows that actually got
by tall_boy
I'm kinda disappointed that "Untold" isn't as inspired as "South Park: BLU" but, really, what is? Anyway, I still think the South Park and family guy "movie" will be better than the eventual Simpsons movie. On a semi-related note, the Bono joke also kicked alot of ass.
-
Hey Mechashiva - look that word up you fucktard. At what point in my post am I xenophobic? Do I display fear or hate towards other cultures? No you twat, I am commenting on a a fucking comedy cartoon! Or is that "hatin" - fuck off imbecile. I never once said it was negative thing that Family Guy referenced American pop culture so specifically or that American Culture wasn't worth referencing or whatever lonely and idiotic thoughts you got rattling around your big ol' empty head. My point was that when stretched to 90 minutes there are too many jokes that fall dead due to the culture differences. I'm fairly certain that there is a large audience for Family Guy outside of the US or are you that narrowminded? To compare Family Guy's use of culture to that of The Office is absolutely retarded. Yes the office is very British, but they never made a fucking movie did they??? I think over 90minutes any non-Brit would be struggling to get everything. But when certain Family Guy jokes have punchlines to jokes resting purely on a random US TV presenter or a theme tune to a TV show seen by only one country well that doesn't work. The odd couple can be brushed over and humour can be found somewhere, but over 90minutes it becomes irksome. Now why is that xenophobic?? Bell end.
-
"You have AIDS/ Not HIV/ but full-blow AIDS" After our shock, my wife and I laughed at that for the rest of the episode.
I think the pace of throw-away jokes on Family Guy was really accelerated this season. Okay, the storylines have suffered to make room for jokes, but man those jokes have been funny. -
He gets drunk with Inpector Gadget's Dog?
Cool..... -
Homer Simpson is mad monkey funny. Eric Cartman is balls nasty funny. Peter Giffin is not funny in any way. Keep the baby, keep the dog, lose the fat guy - it's just that simple.
-
The rest was very meh. There were loads of times i contemplated turning it off and watching something else. But I suppose this wasn't for me as I have never been able to sit through 2 or more Family Guy's in a row as the attempted joke quotient is so high it just drags me down. Sometimes I laugh alot sometimes the show does nothing for me (season 4 especially). Not great and certainly no comparison to the brilliant SP:BL&U.
-
How on earth is it online already?
-
Jul 31, 2005 4:47:00 PM CDT
Part of the humor in Family Guy is the "how did they get away wi
by i dunno
The same is true of South Park but when they did their movie, they pushed the boundaries of the R rating, so they kept the shock value.
Readers Talkback
User Login
Top Talkbacks
- AVENGERS enemy revealed as pink boardgame pieces... You might suffer some form of elation... SPOILERS!!! -- 142 total posts 131 posts
- To Commemorate The 3D Release Of STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, George Lucas Wants You To Know...Greedo Shoots First!! -- 465 total posts 126 posts
- There's a STAR TREK video game that is going to lead into JJ's STAR TREK 2 apparently... -- 124 total posts 124 posts
- Wanna smell like the Hulk? What about Cap? Consider yourself a Thunder God or a unisex God of Mischief? -- 69 total posts 68 posts
- Here's The Red Band Trailer For Drafthouse Films' THE FP! -- 60 total posts 60 posts
- Friday Brings SWEEPS DAY NINE!! Gab Here About Tonight’s FRINGE!! Plus Einstein on TIM, Wiig On PORTLANDIA, MAHER, CLONE, GIFTED, GRIMM, SPARTACUS, SUPERNATURAL, GOLD RUSH And More!! -- 111 total posts 46 posts
- AICN Legends: Quint talks with Paul Reubens about all things Pee-Wee! Including the 3 (!!!) Pee-Wee movies in development! -- 37 total posts 37 posts
- Rest In Peace Bethesda’s Adam Adamowicz -- 88 total posts 37 posts
- SPACE 2099!! -- 174 total posts 33 posts
- The Sensorties Revisit The Friday Docback (And Still Smell)!! DOCTOR WHO Story #7 Again, The Coming Of Season/Series 7, And More!! -- 83 total posts 32 posts