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AMAD Special Tribute: Human Giant’s Aziz Ansari on MAC AND ME (1988)!!!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. You know, I was 7 when this movie came out. Even I knew it was fucking ridiculous, but there is that nostalgia. I do remember watching this a lot on cable in my forming years. I probably should not try to rewatch as I have a feeling I wouldn’t be as kind to this one as I am to things like MONSTER SQUAD and FLIGHT OF THE NAVIGATOR, two movies I feel hold up just as well today as they did for me as a kid. A lot of you guys know Aziz Ansari from his great stand-up (he’s been touring with Patton Oswalt and that group… that’s where I first saw him, when they came through Austin… and Aziz dropped an AICN reference onstage!), but he’s probably most known for co-starring on MTV’s HUMAN GIANTS with Paul Scheer. Check out his site here! He agreed to do a piece for this tribute and suddenly got a Mac (andme) Attack! Now here’s Aziz on 1988’s best ET ripoff: Mac & Me!
Many of you know what a notorious piece of shit 1989’s Mac and Me is supposed to be. The film is an infamous E.T. ripoff (with product placement overload) about a young boy in a wheelchair, Eric, that is befriended by a strange alien, Mac.
In addition to the product placement controversy, the main reason I was intrigued to watch this film because of the classic wheelchair scene, made most famous by Paul Rudd on Conan. If you haven’t seen it, please for the love of God, watch it now:
That clip is so bizarre and so hilarious, I had to see what else Mac and Me had up its sleeve.
First off, let me say anyone that’s ever had a problem with product placement in TV or film, stay the fuck away from Mac and Me or your head might explode. Just imagine if Ronald McDonald molested the movie E.T. while he drank an inordinary amount of Coca-Cola and that’s how you get the script for Mac and Me.
The Coke and McDonald's plugs (they are the two primary backers) are not subtle in the least bit. Aliens and kids are drinking Coke like nobody's business in this thing and lines like, “This must be like what they drink on their home planet!” are uttered with no remorse.
The most ridiculous of these moments happens in a scene in a cave when aliens are HEALED BY FUCKING COCA-COLA. Aliens are sick. The kids run to the van and get 2 cans of Coca-Cola. The aliens drink it and then instantly feel better. Afterwards, the kids have to race to a gas station to get more Coke because the two cans ran out and it’s the only thing that can save them! Yes, this was actually filmed and it happens in a movie.
Product placement with no holds barred
The basic plot is standard E.T. ripoff:
1) Young alien gets to earth and is separated from family
2) Alien escapes evil NASA scientists types
- In the get away scene, there is a small cameo from a young Danny Cooksey (aka Budnick from “Salute Your Shorts” and John Connor’s arcade buddy from T2)
- If you look hard enough, there must be a few crossover extras from evil NASA dudes from Flight of the Navigator and maybe even a few NOVA scientists from Short Circuit
3) Young kid starts noticing weird things and no one believes him
- In a great/really stupid scene, Eric confirms his suspicions of the creatures existence by capturing him in a vacuum cleaner by luring him with Coke and then reversing the vacuum to shoot him back out. Somehow, the little girl who's his neighbor gets strapped on to the vacuum cleaner and goes up the ceiling. Unfortunately this clip is not on YouTube and I'm too lazy to do it myself, but this screen grab should give you an idea of just how stupid this looks in execution.
4) His cooler, older brother believes him, but mom still doesn’t
5) Mom starts believing around the same time the evil NASA dudes are hot on the trail, kids start taking alien out in disguises.
- Particularly awesome in this phase of the movie is a car chase scene with the NASA guys trailing Eric on his wheelchair on the highway. To be crystal clear, you see a kid traveling speeds upwards of at least 45 mph in his wheelchair. He even goes so far as to pull a Marty McFly at one point and grab the back of a truck and hold on for speed!
Wheelchair highway race? Yes, please.
- The highlight though is a truly insane indoor/outdoor synchronized breakdancing scene that takes place (where else?) in a McDonald’s. Also in this scene, we have a very strange cameo from Ronald McDonald himself. Watch this shit:
6) Aliens/kids on the run. NASA dudes occasionally shoot at kids/aliens, mom screams hysterically reminding them “Those are kids!!!”
- This is also where they find the rest of Mac's family and "heal them" with Coke. However, they run out and when they go to the gas station to re-up, the family takes off to a grocery store and goes for the goods, leading to a shootout with police!
7) Boy “dies,” but aliens bring him back to life.
8) Aliens are safe, forgiven by the government, and become U.S. citizens.
Whoa what the fuck? They become American citizens?? YES! The aliens are sworn in, Short Circuit 2 style:
God bless the poor souls who had to spend time in those awful costumes.
The alien family then drives away in a pink Cadillac while the kid alien is chewing gum and blows a huge bubble that says “WE’LL BE BACK!”
Nope.
Needless to say, they did not come back.
Mac and Me is a truly unique chapter in the book of piece of shit cinema. You can probably gather what you need from the YouTube clips, but if you really need to get your fix, it won’t disappoint.
Aziz
Product placement with no holds barred
Wheelchair highway race? Yes, please.
God bless the poor souls who had to spend time in those awful costumes.
Nope.
Thanks, Aziz! We have two more AMAD Tributes left, one from a horror director and one from a well known… well, you’ll see.
Previous A Movie A Day Tributes:
Edgar Wright discusses 1971's VIRGIN WITCH
Rian Johnson discusses 1971’s A NEW LEAF
Randy Cook on 1963’s DONOVAN’S REEF
Readers Talkback
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When I "worked" at a theater that was playing it. We had a few crazy drug and alcohol fueled screenings of this. Good times.
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Embezzeled as much money as possible and fucked off the rest of the time.
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i've seen "mac & me" once, and "et" about 50 times, though, so maybe that tells you just how brilliant they each are.
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But thanks to you it is all coming back. <p> Didn't. Bury. It. Deep. Enough.
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You decide.
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All because of one hot 80s chick=Tina Caspary,also from Cant buy me Love.
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I remember when this came out, and at 10 I was smart enough to know a damn knock-off POS when I saw one. So, I stayed away from it.
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aziz is hilarious, i met him on the streets of nyc years ago way before human giant while he was hustling geeky comedy nerds. it was outside a comedians of comedy show and he was telling everyone to come see his show at the ucb theater. i'm a big fan, good luck and much success in the future.
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Hilarious bastard. Anyways great review of a great pile of shit movie. Was it just me or did Ronald McDonald have that raping twinkle in his eye..
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Those clips were hilarious, especially the kid going off the cliff and thr flying teddy bear. Thanks for the laughs!
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Nice.
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Jan. 15, 2009, 4:36 a.m. CST
I remember that when I was between 6 or 10 years old...
by DerLanghaarige
...one of my friends always told me how great this movie was! :)) <br> I think this would be a cool idea for a new AICN column: Let kids review awful movies and make fun of them, because they love them. ;)
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...And it's what made the 80s the 80s... McDonald's Rep: Hey, seeing as we're bankrolling this flick, okay if we put Ronald in there? Kids love him.<p> Coked-Up Mac And Me Director: KIDS love him? Man, I FUCKING love him!!! I'll put him in my breakdancing scene...kids love that shit, too!
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Watch this film and it will make you throw up. no really....
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when this movie came out, I avoided it completely. Reading this review, though, I almost miss seeing the Worst Movie Ever. Film school students can see this and E.T. back to back for the ultimate example of how execution can change the exact same premise.
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unless you're saying it in some kind of post ironic way, in which case you're a fucktard.
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Reagan Era clearly came down to this.
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Jan. 15, 2009, 7:53 a.m. CST
Don't forget people that the director of Mac and Me
by Shut the Fuck up Donny
also did the completely "unforgettable" Mannequin 2: On the Move!
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i think i saw this at a friend's house.. then it became the go-to vhs tape to pop in and laugh our asses off to. even then, we were honing our riffing skills. god what a turd, but we knew it. how whack is a naked flesh colored humanoid alien with an anus mouth in a kid's movie? I knew Mac and Me was a total McDonald's commercial, but I forgot just how much Coke-aganda was in it.
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Take him to a McDonalds and get *everyone* in there to dance around him. Want to make him feel even worse? Get a few of them to do cartwheels and backflips...
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at least for me. and i'm overjoyed. sick of looking at the jean grey statue and the medusa's gaze one makes co workers think i'm surfing porn...even with her cleavage p-shopped out.<P>anyway, it's cice to not see any freaking doll/toy/figure ads here for a while.
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do the aliens 'heal' the kid so he can walk in the end? if not, that sucks...but even if so, that sucks...neither would give a good message. which is why you never base a child fantasy movie around a kid in a wheelchair.
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at moviemistakes.com ....the list of bad editing etc is lengthy. i'm learning so much!
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For you: that wheelchair, the alien...it's awesome! I remember seeing a poster for it in McDonald's. It was weird. No toys, no happy meals, just a poster.
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I typically think of product placement as a company paying to get their goods scene in a movie, This was a case of a company simply bankrolling a movie length commercial. Also, this struck me more like a Mystery Science Theatre article than AMAD.
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doh. fine i'm an idiot. sigh.
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than Amblin's lawyers. How this ever got released in this country, I'll never know.
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What a strange strange film I feel sick after just watching a few of those youtube clips.
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Jan. 15, 2009, 9:13 a.m. CST
Not only is Mickey D's featured heavilly in the movie...
by Nasty In The Pasty
...but the film's trailer is NARRATED BY RONALD MCDONALD!!! Honestly, it opens with FOOTAGE OF RONALD MCDONALD introducing "my new little friend" Mac (hmmmmm...I could go for a Big MAC right now...). Imagine the trailer for E.T. opening with Spielberg holding a bag of Reese's Pieces up to the camera for no reason. Also, check out the HILARIOUS "scary" trailer re-edit on YouTube ("In space...no one can eat at McDonald's").
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I've never seen Mac & Me, but I know now that I must. For true E.T. rip-off awfulness, see "Beezbo", an educational video about manners (you can watch it on YouTube). Beezbo used to be a free rental at Blockbuster. My friends and I used to play a drinking game to it. If you love bad movie-making, you will not be disappointed.
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...that kid gave swimming the old college try....I'm impressed. That kid's a real trooper.
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Aziz, I hope your whole set as "Randy" is available when the Funny People DVD comes out some day - that shit was fucking hilarious.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNjACYfQlbI
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Same rip-off idea but wow its horrifying and somehow is worse than this.
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wasn't there a whole scene where they straight up rip off ET with a trail of candy, only it's skittles?<P>ET did it's own share of product placement. i remember reeses pieces sales skyrocketing from ET, and every comic book i opened had an ET/reeses ad in the front cover. ET had a wide variety of quality toys though..i am very surprised McD's never even attempted mac and me happy meal toys.
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Am I the only person on Earth who thinks E.T. was a sour, manipulative piece of shit?
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it was very manipulative and really not all that magical. I think more than anything the score is what sticks with me, and only a very few scenes. but i was a kid, so even though i don't like it i get nostalgic for it sometimes. brainwashing works i guess...but i haven't seen it in over 15 years or so though, and even then, just on TV
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im reading a review for mac and me while watching a CNN news story on barrack obamas abs.
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Jan. 15, 2009, 10:11 a.m. CST
I totally forgot to mention that Mac is called Mick...
by DerLanghaarige
...in Germany.<br> And yes, I hate E.T. too. As a kid I thought it was boring and when I grew up and recognized the whole Jesus-stuff in it, it even made me angry.
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look like a box of Kraft Mac and Cheese? Is that a rip-off or a product placement? Neither would surprise me.
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This shit is so funny now. I avoided this and avoided Short Circuit as a kid... I hated stupid genre movies ever since I saw the Lone Ranger in the theater in the late 70's and realized not all movies in the theater were good... it was sort like the sinking feeling I had when I saw Return of the Jedi in the theater and realized it wasn't all good... like finding out that Santa isn't real for little kids...
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Jan. 15, 2009, 11:19 a.m. CST
Universal blocked "Great White" but let this go?
by The Reluctant Austinite
As insane and just plain wrong as this looks now (and I mean that in the best possible way), at the time this was an example of pure evil. It's completely and utterly shameless in its theft of the entire film of "E.T." for the purposes of selling Coke products and McDonalds fast food. How did Universal allow this thing to screen? They sued "Great White" for ripping off "Jaws" but gave this piece of shit a free pass!
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Jan. 15, 2009, 11:21 a.m. CST
Anyone remember "Spewie" from GET A LIFE (Chris Elliot)?
by Bob Cryptonight
Now there was a weird, rubber suit alien (beat to death with a rake and then eaten as a late night snack).
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Just in case someone's been meaning to watch this flick, but hasn't gotten around to it until now. "Woah! I like this Aziz guy, but i want to see this movie with a clean slate."
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i was just on imdb trying to figure out the name of that chris elliot show.
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sometimes i think i am the only person who watched 'get a life', like it was a fever dream or something....ha ha spewie was a much more accurate depiction of what would really happen if a 'kid' hid a marooned alien. it would keep trying to kill him and escape, and would get sick and die. <P>I really loved that show when they decided they were going to kill Chris in almost every episode. long before 'they killed kenny'
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The original script called for the boy to bait with M&M's. The film was denied the right to use them, so they changed it to Reese's. But the concept of the boy baiting with a real candy was part of the story not a ploy for product placement. The line "want a coke" in E.T. was also just part of trying to create an authentic suburban American feel to the plot, not a plug that was paid for by Coca Cola. But when, by chance, after E.T. came out and the intended "little" movie got big, sales skyrocketed for the candy, businessmen took note, and years down the line you get retarded shit like Mac and Me. PS... I saw "Great White" in the theatre before it was shut down... and all of us kids thought it was shitty but very funny.
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Jan. 15, 2009, 11:30 a.m. CST
Tina Caspary=original Kelly Bundy on MARRIED WITH CHILDREN!
by Bob Cryptonight
You can find stills from the original pilot online. Her last role was in 1989, I believe.
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NO! you cannot use our product in your family movie, Spielberg! ...now good day!
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also: "Mackin' Me" is a video from the early nineties on how to seduce yourself.
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They originally thought they would have a negative connotation with an alien in a scifi movie. I think people got fired. Can you imagine being the guy that lost out potential millions for the company because you didn't have the imagination or understanding that a movie about an alien could be cool to the pop(ular) world?
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I never saw this shit until college, but every scene that featured these aliens had me rolling on the floor laughing my ass off. Their faces look completely dopey and stupid... holy shit I dare you to try to watch this shit with a mouth full of drink. What an awful piece of hilarious shit.
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It wasn't the 80S unless the government was after you for science!
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Google that shit
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You people need to see Nukie. Mac & Me is Oscar-worthy compared to Nukie.
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That movie really sucked. I remember watching it with my whole family when it came to Showtime. That was seriously one of the ugliest aliens put to film. All of the product placement was clear as a bell. (Come to think of it, I was 13. I guess I was desperate for any kind of special-effects then.) I remember when that "We'll be back" bubble showed up on the screen, my dad muttered, "Oh, I hope not."
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wow so i read up on NUKIE and while it truly looks horrible, alot can be forgiven because of the low budget, and well meaning people attempting to make a movie. Mac an Me, however, had massive financial sponsor backing and did what with it? i think in the end it is a more evil film than nukie.<P>oh but how can we forget the lovable TRUMPY?! <P>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qW3GUdEkesw
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as someone else mentioned...as creepy as Mac and Me aliens are, nothing holds a candle to the vomitous wretchedness of NUKIE. Look it up, please.
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...really funny or witty in this reviez. He just lists the bad scenes that we can all see are horrible. No great comedy there. I'll pass on this one.
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Jan. 15, 2009, 1:15 p.m. CST
Normally they aren't this transparent with the placement
by drewlicious
It's actually worse than the killer Mountain Dew machine in Transformers. Or the really awkward Costco joke in Yes Man.
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Damn. I'm far too suggestable to advertizing.
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Had our birthdays and break danced at McDonalds in the 80's! It's true! I swear it!
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My 5th grade teahcer made us watch it because she said it helped promote good values of "accepting those that are different"!!!! We even had to do a report on Mac and Me, I shit you not! God, I love US public education.
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is in Idiocracy. "Welcome to Carl's Jr.! Fuck You, I'm Eating!... would you like to try our EXTRA BIG ASS FRIES!"
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Sorry. Hipster and Comedian don't go together, and if they did, the manifestation would not be this arrogant smug assclown.
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freaking awesome at the time...def drank coke out of a straw that day
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of Roland Emmerich's "Making Contact?" Seriously, these movies haunted me when I was a kid!
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Nukie.
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With that little nerd quoting Thoreau at people and introducing his pet squirrel. When he went skinnydipping everybody snickered.
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Nukie is not available on Netflix, unfortunately. Thankfully, Mac and Me is! I feel inspired to revisit this epic piece of shit.
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This "review" is most certainly not.
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..when I was a kid. I had no concept of 'product placement' and I was a tiny geek so space aliens would have been a draw but even then, with my tiny head shoved up my likely tiny ass, I knew this was shite.<p>And I thought it was the tears of chicken mcnuggets that healed all wounds. Try it...it actually works. A friend lost an arm in a terrible ceiling fan vs hamster incident (the hamster was fine)...no joke...12 chicken mcnuggets and he got his arm back. Not one stitch either! Kinda like the Swamp Thing. Only with chicken mcnuggets.
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the gee whizz factor was missing becuase the berg altered the movies best scene and added cgi. That scene is the one where keys and his men are going to take et away and they are standing there wearing the suits where you cant see there faces and they are carrying guns. the berg changed that for ET's 2oth anniversary. I still dont know why. The movie does look dated though.
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...this thing kicks fucking ass.
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...that as a kid, they enjoyed this film more than E.T.
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And why do I give a fuck what he has to say? <p>
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because he was updating it for today's pussy-ass children. and thinking back, those scenes with the armed, faceless scientists were the mosy scary- and intentionally so at the time. in the rerelease much of that 'anti-government' scare was gone, and way more ET CG hijinx thrown in. the entire movie was wussified for the new generation of brats.<P>I was just discussing with someone else a few days ago- my FAVORITE kids movies as a kid where the ones that had some genuine scares or foreboding in them. Kid's flicks these days- with the exception being the new breed of 'magic' themed flicks (narnia,potter and spiderwick, etc) are sorely lacking that fear.
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...actually wheelchair bound? I wonder where he is now. "E.T.", as Spielberg said, was really a film about divorce as he went through his parents separating when he was a teenager. Mike trying to be the man of the house (Although he still acts like a kid at times) and Elliot worried about if his dad will forget about them. And their mom...having to raise the family while her ex is off with his new girlfriend. You look at it when you're older and you see a movie about a family that receives an unexpected friend. BTW, that one was banned in one of the Scandinavian countries as they thought children disrespecting grownups was too 'dangerous' to imitate. Hello, they were trying to save their friend from government agents that wanted to dissect him. (Well, Keyes wasn't bad. He told Elliot that he's glad E.T. met him first.)
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I vaguely rememeber watching this piece of crap around '91 or '92. Who the fuck would hire the aliens, after they become citizens? I bet they are just bumming around at home, watching TV, being just mouths to feed, while the kid works his ass off at Costco. SAD.
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Ever counted the Dr. Pepper cans in CAN'T STOP THE MUSIC from 1980? Probably not, because the film is as ludicrous as MAC & ME but with a really big budget. Still, they're all over the place. There's a blatant Baskin Robbins plug in it as well. They even had a tie-in ice cream flavor. "Can't Stop the Nuts" or some shit. It's a shame that the Village People had YouTube pull all of the clips. That movie is trashy genius.
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Jan. 15, 2009, 4:34 p.m. CST
This image is funnier than anything Aziz Ansari...
by DANNYGLOVERS_DICKBLOOD
...has done in his entire life. I looked up some vids of you. You fucking suck. <p>http://tinyurl.com/7ewlyt
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Maybe keep the young comedian- 80's movie thing going. Like maybe Dane on a rip-off movie, or a movie with ridiculous product placement.
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It's like American christians borg'd the aliens.
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And since Rudd and Conan already mined it, a little tired. Sort of a let down after Wright's inventive, informative, and hilarious review the other day. What I liked about Wright's was he actually loved the movie and in a way accepted it on its own terms. I hope for more of those.
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It was years before I figured out that this wasn't actually a McDonalds movie. Ads for the chain billed it as such. Also, I like the tribute format. keep it going! I'm happy to write one myself.
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I never had the displeasure of seeing it, but a friend had gone with his Mom and Dad and when I asked him what he thought he said... and I am quoting an 8 year old: "It fucking SUCKED!" <P> Thing is, my buddy didn't know that his Mom was standing right behind him... I think he was grounded for a week (even though in retrospect, I suspect she agreed with his opinion).
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I get it now!! Love Steve Martin's old bit that everything there tastes like it comes out of the same vat
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holy shit, yeah! Come to thin kof it, Spewie seems to have been a bigger, but almost identical copy of Mac the alien. Difference was Get a Life was actually funny at times without being "so funny it's bad."
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I remember thinking how bad it was and being bored by it. Didn't think anything could be worse than Howard The Duck, but Mac and Me fucking is.
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I guess the "good old days" weren't so good after all. We all complain about studios being creatively bankrupt but I have to think there isn't a studio out there that would have the audacity to make a movie like this today. Please Hollywood, don't prove me wrong.
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I miss MST3K proper
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"Mannequin 2: On The Move" was one of my favorite movies. (I think Roland Kickinger from "Son of the Beach" was in it, but I'm not sure...)
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(or at the very least didn't help them at all). I remember wanting to see this for some reason when I was around 8-9 and then finding it more boring than anything else (although I'm sure it was also stupid).
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I had better things to watch than ET ripoffs that try to manipulate your emotions by putting the kid in a wheelchair. Siler Bullet on the other hand......
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Hell, if he can produce CABIN BOY, why not a movie about Spewie and Chris Elliots GET A LIFE character?
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ha ha.
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is great, this however is a massive piece of shit (albeit unintentionally hilarious), it's a shame MST3K never got a hold of this...
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as a recap with youtube clips<p>All this discussion of ET ripoffs and no one praised Alan Moore's Skizz? All the bad Alan Moore movies are just movies way of getting back at him for Skizz.
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Aziz doesnt seem ...really funny or witty in this reviez. WELZ SAIZ, MAZ! Quitz wittz arz yoz!
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