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Quint at SXSW says MACGRUBER is vuglar, crude, ridiculous, silly and very funny!
SPOILER ALERT !!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. I have a crazy busy day tomorrow and I need to grab some sleep, but I was caught off guard last night with the lifting of that Tron: Legacy Set Visit embargo (read the visit here), so I didn’t get around to writing up the world premiere of MACGRUBER, based on the SNL sketch that parodies MacGyver. I will make up for that now.
I don’t know how trustworthy my opinion is going to be on this because unlike the vast majority of people I’ve read online I actually think the MacGruber SNL sketch is funny. Slight, of course, but funny. I especially loved the run that included Shia LaBeouf as MacGruber’s closeted gay son.
I’m happy to report that the feature took the WAYNE’S WORLD approach, taking off-beat characters and expanding their world, barely touching on the confined original sketch. There’s only one call back to the MacGruber sketches and that’s during the big finale and while it is a tad awkward in a “hey, remember this?!?” way, it still works.
MacGruber is more a spoof of the ‘80s badass formula… a bad guy has a nuke, has it aimed at Washington, DC and there’s only one man who can stop him. The world thinks this man is dead, but the tough as nails Army General (Powers Booth) knows better and pulls him out of retirement. This man, of course, is MacGruber.
The flick turns a lot of these ‘80s conventions on their heads, but the real meat and potatoes comes with Will Forte and Kristen Wiig’s chemistry… oh, and Val Kilmer jumping back into the comedy realm as the bad guy Dieter Von Cunth. Yes, you read that right. “Let’s pound some Cunth” is repeated a few times.
It’s not as common post-Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, but people still do tend to forget just how goddamn funny Val Kilmer is. Go back and watch Real Genius and Top Secret… if I knew nothing else of Kilmer’s career after those two movies I’d assume he would have moved on to be a world famous comedian. He’s so charming and genuinely funny in those films that I loved seeing him return to that kind of character in KKBB and now here in MacGruber, just playing it to the nines.
There’s not a ton of plot to this film, but there really doesn’t need to be. It’s a film about different types of personalities clashing while insane shit happens. MacGruber assembles a team to go after Von Cunth and that’s what they do.
The personalities at play are Forte and a Farrah Fawcett feathered Wiig’s romance, hindered by the fact that MacGruber was about to marry her sister (Maya Rudolph) when Von Cunth triggers an explosive hidden in the preacher’s bible (while mouthing the words “fuck you” in slow motion to the shocked MacGruber) splattering everyone in the front row with bridal gore) as well as the traditional Abbott & Costello straight man/funny guy dynamic with a serious, straight-edged military man played by Ryan Phillippe and the pompous MacGruber.
One detail I appreciate being added to MacGruber is that even though he’s depicted as a bit of a clueless dumbass, Forte, Jorma Taccone and John Solomon wrote him a bit in the same vein as the US Office’s Michael Scott in that every once in a while MacGruber is really, really fucking good at what he does. That keeps us on our toes a bit as audience members, not knowing when the next situation goes to shit if MacGruber will be ripping throats out (yes, that happens) or begging to suck someone’s dick to get him out of the situation (yes, that also happens).
The reasons I found MacGruber to really work as comedy was probably its ability to play with convention. MacGruber has his hard rock hero music when he’s doing movie things (assembling his team, training, etc), but when he’s driving he only has easy listening on his tape deck… which is portable, by the way. I don’t know if any of you guys are old enough to remember the tape decks that came with handles, so when you left your car you could just slide it out and bring it with you wherever you go. MacGruber has one and does indeed have it in-hand most of the movie.
The flick is vulgar, crude, ridiculous, silly and very, very funny. In short, it’s everything you should expect from a good SNL movie.
I just hope we get a sequel that brings Shia back as MacGruber’s gay son. Fingers crossed!
Speaking of SNL, I’m shitting my pants a little because in about 8 hours I’m going to be sitting down with Bill Murray to discuss GET LOW. That dude was a figurehead of my childhood… hope I don’t fuck that one up… I guess you’ll see in the near future when that interview goes live! Wish me luck!
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
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but the jokes look fairly predicatable.
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There simply weren't too many: The Blues Bros., Wayne's World... that's about it. The rest had varying degrees of suckitude.
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When Will Forte, Kristen Wiig and Ryan Phillippe guest host on April 19? There's a bunch of wrestlers in this.
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vuglarities are funny when used right
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Ask him if about his appearance on Letterman where he seemed to poo poo the idea of a 3rd Ghostbusters. And ask him how he stays in such fabulous shape, and if he works out.
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You mean he represented something to you, but had no real power?
Looking forward to the Murray interview also. In December my wife and I spotted him some place. When we told family friends they all had the same reaction "Did you tell him he's my best friend?" I think many people have this idea that if they just sat down with him, he'd change their life like in "Lost in Translation." -
That website is pure genius.
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I don't think I wanna waste my download quota on this piece of fuckin' shit!
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...expecting there to be some actual connection to Bill Murray, but instead it's just fan fiction. I doubt Murray has ever heard of that site...like the rest of us.
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It was complete shit, didn't look funny at all, I didn't laugh once. But maybe there is some funny in there, I hope so, I'd rather see a SNL movie succeed rather than fail....
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. . . Stuart Saves His Family. Of course it was all because of Vincent D'Onofrio and Harris Yulin. Kind of liked Coneheads too. They really mostly suck though, don't they? And there are tons that are so bad looking I never checked them out. Weren't there even movies about Pat and The Ladies Man? Ouch . . .
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Mar 17, 2010 8:17:56 AM CDT
I don't know, the movie seemed VERY crappy by the trailer
by ricarleite2
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I think this has the potential to surprise me and be good
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I'll agree with ridiculous, but only to the extent that the movie was made in the first place.
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Get it? It's funny because it sounds like something else. Schwetty balls for everyone! Fucking dipshits.
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I wasn't at all even considering seeing this movie. Now it's moved up to a Netflix rental for sure.
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Mar 17, 2010 9:39:02 AM CDT
this is the first SNL character movie in a really long time
by the_crimson_king
that is all I have to say
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sketch still kills. The caulk was pretty good too. Then again, if you talk about your lip balm on an airplane you will get tackled by the TSA.
Wrestlers in the film according to IMDB: Khali, Kane, Mark Henry, HHH, Jericho -
and that movie will once and for all end the SNL movie thing.
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My problem with this movie is that it's vuglar. If it weren't vuglar maybe I'd give it a shot, but I don't like vuglar movies. I hate vuglar movies. And Macgruber is vuglar. Do you like vuglar movies?
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I ran into Bill Murray once at a Whole Foods, it was akward to say the least. Especially when he asked to borrow money.
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Fuck yes I like vulgar movies :)
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Thank you, MacGruber.
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The Redband trailer for this made me crying I was laughing so hard. This movie is gonna rock! On a side note, is Hader in this? I love seeing Hader and Forte together. Pure comedy gold!
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Hader isn't in it, unfortunately. It's still hilarious though.
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I heard that there might be a MacGuyver cameo in this. Any truth to it?
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What the fuck is vuglar, anyways?
Morons. -
I'm gonna see this movie with my eyeballs.
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Conqueror of the Nth Galaxy! That, or maybe it's a Vulcan Burglar?
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Count me in.
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Puttin' on the chunk as of late, the both of 'em
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While the haters will hate without reason, it sounds like there will be a lot of people disappointed that this will not disappoint.
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Did you know - Will Forte used to write for the show "Action" with Jar Mohr? Used to love that show, and was shocked when I saw his name in the credits on a recent re-watch.
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Not the same Eric, is it? Eric Snider on Cinematical gave a very similar review to this film. What's Lorne Michaels paying you guys?
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I liked the sketches on SNL too, but was worried at how they would make it work on the big screen. Sounds like they took the right approach, and I'm looking forward to watching it.
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I'll touch him wherever I want.I believe I've said it before, this looks kinda funny to me. I doubt the whole movie will be good but some of the bits in the trailer work for me.
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"Heather's" review of this film, linked to IMDb, is one of the most idiotic things I have seen connected to that site. Damn, can anybody get their reviews linked to IMDb's home page?? Bad Internet, bad, BAD Internet. (Slap)
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is not in the cut I saw, although someone in the audience asked if they approached him, and the director was a bit quiet on the subject. Maybe in a sequel?
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