Cool News
Bobcat Goldthwait's napalm hot satire GOD BLESS AMERICA has a trailer... here...
Hey folks, Harry here with GOD BLESS AMERICA's trailer. This was the one film I got to see at TORONTO's INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL. I love this film. Watching it at Toronto's Midnight Madness was just amazing. The audience, Drew McWeeny's laughter right behind me... and points where I literally felt like I was hyperventilating laughing at the film... or how my hands hurt applauding various monologues that just sear the ridiculous point at which American culture has hit. Bobcat is the clown we need for times like these. Where we watch as Goldthwait uses Joel Murray as the exposed nerve of America. Saying the things that Politicians and people that get in front of cameras are often times too fucking afraid to say. That there is something rotting at the core of us. The values of the media (rightwing & leftwing) just seem to be leading the country wrong. Watching this film, while I laughed, I couldn't help but agree. This is velvety black satire. Honestly, having seen it cold, not knowing a thing about it, I wouldn't have wanted to see a poster or a trailer. I'm an optimist about life in general, but there's an awful lot of this film that just rang bitterly true. Check it out when and if you have the chance. Bobcat did amazing work here.
Readers Talkback
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that is all
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don't kill Sinatra crooner guy from MTV of yesterday.
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I am, however, a tremendous fan of each and every one of the movies directed by Bobcat Goldthwait. And I did once spend a week watching SHAKES THE CLOWN every sing day (in a double feature with TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A.). Needless to say, I am extremely excited or this one.
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Seems like we've been seeing a lot of Joel Murray lately. Just a few years ago when I caught HATCHET I was like...Holy shit, it's that dude from ONE CRAZY SUMMER. Isn't he Bill Murray's brother? And now, everywhere I turn...there's Joel Murray. Good for him. Now whatever happened to the dude from MOVING VIOLATIONS?
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How long do you trolls have to rub the HDDVD shit in? The formats been dead for what, 3 years? Move on to better insults...better yet, just move on.
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Jan. 28, 2012, 3:42 p.m. CST
looks like 'Super' a little bit. Looks great though. And Artie the strongest man alive from Pete and Pete makes an appearence.
by wattos new hat
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-Namaste-
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Sinatra crooner guy
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...my hat's off to ya, dude...If only I'd listened to Harry in 2007 I wouldn't be stuck with my blu ray player now....heh-heh. Off to watch my Brian Cox collection...
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Check out the biggest hits on the Top Talkbacks on your right, dude...you'll see what nachoman's talking about....
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a movie version of Bill Hicks' jokes about George Michael and New Kids on the Block? Don't get me wrong, I like Bobcat's flicks and the material seems like it will make a great movie, just wanted to point out the alignment I saw
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Sold
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This movie is fullfilling a lot of unanswered dreams. Looks freaking wonderful.
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Jan. 28, 2012, 4:04 p.m. CST
By the way, the PS3 is the ONLY reason Bluray won...it had NOTHING to do with movies
by Mel
It was just dumb luck. People bought the PS3 for games, so they had something they could play HD movies on. If MS had packed an HD DVD drive into the Xbox 360 at launch it would have won. These are facts.
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Jan. 28, 2012, 4:06 p.m. CST
The problem is....this is like a Weird Al Music Video without any Music
by Mel
And even though I like Weird Al...I wouldnt want to see a movie based on a 3 minute song making fun of pop culture, either. Then again, UHF was amazing.
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Jan. 28, 2012, 4:08 p.m. CST
Wait, you applauded during a movie? LOLOLOL...I'd shoot you if you were in my theater
by Mel
Ironic, isn't it? The scene where they kill the people in the theater. You see, I despise morons who clap during movies. It's pathetic.
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Saw it last year at TIFF, and really enjoyed it. The trailer.... is a little spoiler-y. Try and go in cold as possible.
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Sign me the fuck in.
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http://www.rckblog.fr/wp-content/2011/12/bane___the_dark_knight_rises_by_oniruu-d3r9kex.jpg
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Jan. 28, 2012, 4:31 p.m. CST
The Following Trailer is Brought to You by International Rescue.
by Cash907
That was the funniest damn part of the whole thing. Fucking Hulu, and it's creepy voiceover guy.
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So you limp wristed liberals jerk off over a movie depicting 2 loser thrill killers, yet you have a stroke when Seal Team 6 places a 9mm round between Bin Laden's eyes. Typical!
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Jan. 28, 2012, 4:35 p.m. CST
super, falling down, and kind of a reverse harold and maude...
by zom-bot.com
looks good- seems Murray is really pulling out some genuine acting too. i have ALWAYS said, i would kill other people before i ever killed myself, if i snapped. brain tumor seems like a good enough reason to me.
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i see.
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Jan. 28, 2012, 4:37 p.m. CST
This looks pretty good, Bobcat is turning into a pretty good filmmaker.
by SAILOR_RIPLEY
Didn't he do that "World's Greatest Dad" movie with Robin Williams? I thought "Super" was pretty good. The tone was a little uneven, but pretty entertaining.
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Jan. 28, 2012, 4:40 p.m. CST
super was kind of meh until... (spoiler alert, seriously)
by zom-bot.com
until they shot half of ellen page's face off....i did not see that coming. then shit got real, and the movie became what it should have been. plus, she'd pretty much just fucked him in her super suit...what a waste!
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Every time you see that word you know you're about to be treated to some delightful new error message.
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Jan. 28, 2012, 4:43 p.m. CST
Agreed, Super would have been better if it took itself more seriously.
by SAILOR_RIPLEY
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Jan. 28, 2012, 4:44 p.m. CST
i agree with the others that said this reminded them of Super...
by soup74
which is too bad, because i was not a fan of 'Super.'
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you haven't bought hulu super deluxe prime ultra. see, that old ad were alec baldwin said that hulu was an alien plan to take over our minds, was totally true. though perhaps a better analogy would be a drug dealer giving you your first taste for free.
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Jan. 28, 2012, 4:49 p.m. CST
Super was meh, till like half way, than it goes ape shit.
by the Green Gargantua
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Speak for yourself. I'm fine.
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The movie looks great. But I swear to god, just last month, I wrote a script for a short film I wanted to do in March about a guy who shoots up a movie theater because no one would get off their damned phone. And now I see this. Fuck. Obviously Bobcat had the idea first, cause his film's already made, and I'm a nobody so my version was never going to go anywhere anyway. But it still sucks that now if I go through with it I just look like a copycat. <br><p> What's even worse: their version is way cooler. <br><p> True story: this isn't the first time this has happened. At the end of my first semester in college, for my final in Fundamentals of Screenwriting, I wrote twenty pages of a script about some creeps who kidnap kids and charge their buddies admission into their basement to kill them. A year later, Eli Roth announced this movie he was going to make called Hostel, and when it came out, it was way, way better than what I had written. I ended up trashing mine, because at that point why bother?
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This however is pedantic bullshit that feeds into the elitism of the coastal half wits in America. If you think this makes some grand statement you're an idiot. All it does it pander to the kind of people who spend hours on Starbucks patios (or any coffee place) commenting about how lazy and stupid everyone else is while basking in the smell of their gluton free, urbanite farts.
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looks great. Always liked Bobcat, hope this turns into something big for him.
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Is the movie trying to be ironic or "meta" or something? It seems like this film is a pretty good example of whats wrong with America. Are they intentionally being portrayed as becoming what they hate, or is that kind of, er, an accident. No, I really AM this dumb, not trying out some kind of reverse troll strategy here.
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Jan. 28, 2012, 5:24 p.m. CST
basking in the smell of their gluten free, urbanite farts.
by zom-bot.com
hah truer words were never spoken. i think you are right on that type of person, and they are internally elitist, but i think this film speaks more to the everyman fantasy than the elitist hipster. have you ever had a string of such bad shit happen to you that you wanted to destroy- not necessarily out of vengeance or punishing those who have wronged you, but that if you have a death wish, to recreate yourself into something of purpose before it's all over? come to think of it, maybe if we all had a death clock, we'd be more productive people.
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The basic idea on its own won't make you a good movie, but I think it can be spun off into all sorts of interesting directions. That's why I loved Super. It resisted the urge to get all self-indulgent and just fuck annoying people up, and suggested several times that the main character is severely mentally ill. But in his head, he's been touched by the finger of god and is doing good work. Or maybe he's just rationalizing something he knows is abhorrent. The movie makes no judgements, and because of this it ends up in some really dark, uncomfortable places. I like that! <br><p> I think we should give this one a try. The premise could simply be a jumping off point for something really special.
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It looks pathetic.....a kid and a guy getting off on shooting strangers. Don't give me some crap about a satiric look at America.....it still looks like a steaming pile.
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is it just another example of yanks not getting irony?. it does a a few flaws but it wasnt aiming to be the dark(boring)knight.
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Jan. 28, 2012, 5:54 p.m. CST
Hulu trailer played fine for me, but Hulu still fucking blows
by JackSlater4
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To sebastianhaff: I suspect that you're joking when you say that you've had to give up on your original ideas because someone else already made them into a movie. Surely the output of professional filmmakers has taught you that the surest path to success is by reusing and recycling. Case in point, "God Bless America", which (as others have already pointed out) is basically "Super" plus "Falling Down" with bits from every vigilante movie and rant about US culture.
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Jan. 28, 2012, 6:09 p.m. CST
Did Bobcat hire Dennis Quaid to enter my dreamscape with a camcorder?
by Gabba-UK
Because a lot of that seems familiar to me...
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Here's to hoping it doesn't disappear into work of genius heaven with Idiocracy. If it does make it into cinemas, make sure you actually turn your phone off in this one. heh.
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kill the phonies.
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lmao
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Why the fuck would anyone want to remake PARTING SHOTS?! FUCK THIS MOVIE
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didn't know
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This brought tears to my eyes, can't wait to see this, I really loved 'World's Greatest Dad.'
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Elaine's boss died today (not J. Peterman, phew), anyone else going to chow down on a Snickers bar with a knife and fork in remembrance?
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But it's come to this...laughing at people being shot in cold blood? I hope nobody watches this and decides to emulate it for real...
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That's a little juvenile and overkill there.
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Jan. 28, 2012, 8:36 p.m. CST
I love movies like this and worlds greatest dad was awesome, I'm all in
by angrykirby.tk
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Jan. 28, 2012, 8:48 p.m. CST
GOD BLESS Bobcat for having the GUTS of doing something so good...
by Ricardo
... in a day and age where people expect politically correct mediocrity. Awesome movie. I will be there to see it, and yes, I do hope it gets some awards in the way.
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I think anyone could have written this one. Just take everything that you (or anyone) hates and then have a character that kills everyone over it. All easy stuff. Nothing challenging about the premise. Just a grab bag of shibboleths to shoot at (literally). Lazy writing, I think.
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Looks like "Falling Down"?? You ARE kidding, right? "Falling Down" was far smarter than this thing. This is just exploitation.
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Jan. 28, 2012, 9:38 p.m. CST
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Awesome!! Does he shoot Gabby Giffords too?! ROFL!!!
by antonphd
No, actually, I'm not rolling on the floor laughing and this film is not awesome nor is it funny. Bob wants to kill a bunch of people who annoy him. Wonderful.
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Jan. 28, 2012, 9:41 p.m. CST
This movie itself is a satire. This movie makes me sick like reality shows and famous people make me sick. Bobcat Goldthwait did it for the money.
by Orionsangels
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So many cases of truth in that trailer. This movie will rock!
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Pretty much just the MSNBC critique of America. Evil moron loser suburbanites and religious people.
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The story of my life I have to see this
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...are a bunch of losers like Dylan Klebold you stupid inbred occupod entitled crybabies. This is awesome? And you all wish you could do this? Get a life and see someone about your serious mental health problems please!
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Jan. 28, 2012, 10:14 p.m. CST
Bobcat should've gotten an oscar for his performance in Police Academy
by Nerd Rage
C'mon that shit was better than Heath Ledger as the Joker.
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Are already getting defensive. Can't wait to see this.
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The same people saying it looks shallow and vulgar would be praising it. Too bad all the decent artist are hipsters and liberals. Oh well I hear Atlas Shrugs is at Walmart in the 5 dollar bin. Help yourselves.
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You did not address the actual comment I made. I never said that a movie taking on our degraded society is a bad idea. I said THIS movie looks like it is a lazy write. Bob just threw everything at the wall and then started shooting at it. Nothing smart going on here. Just an over-the-top mess. Now "Falling Down" was a smart and intense movie. This just looks lazy.
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Jan. 28, 2012, 10:59 p.m. CST
this movie would be funny in a vaccume, but in the context of reality it's disturbing
by antonphd
the comic set up and timing of this movie is spot on. frankly, the best thing i have seen with the name Bobcat attached to it. but last week i watched Gabby Giffords retire from congress because someone did this shit for real. it's not funny when some impotent miserable asshole decides to murder a bunch of people. it's really fucking sad.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub-KaCNufcs watch that and see someone who actually tried to do some good in this world. i love dark humor, but based on this trailer, this movie doesn't look like dark humor. it looks like a murderous fantasy. that it's funny just makes it disturbing. ask a gay kid who's been beat up if the people beating him were solemn or cracking gay jokes. there is a time to joke, but there are also times where joking is just fucked up.
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You amuse me. While railing about how bad society is you start calling ME names. On the other hand I talked solely about the movie and the closest I came to talking about you was simply to say you are wrong in your analysis. And you say I AM THE ONE that is a"douchebag" that is "polluting society"? Get yourself a mirror and a dictionary so you can look up the word "introspection."
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I loved 'World's Greatest Dad'! When I saw the title, I thought it was just another Christopher Columbus film.<br /> <br /> The line the son's friend has about how the book, "Didn't have anything about rimjobs" rivals Owen Klein's famous line from "The Squid & the Whale", "Do you think she puts his dick in her mouth?" for the most outrageous thing said by a kid in a film.<br /> <br /> Bob was my all time favorite standup comic when I was a kid, in the 80's. When my mom gave my first stand up cassette in the 80's, it was 'Meat Bob'. I'm glad that he's still not past his prime. He could end up being remembered as one of the most edgy comedic directors of this era.
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...but this thread just got........ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..............coxxed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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This film, which I believe is available on Netflix streaming, is a real indy jewel. Strangely enough, it has as its star another Mad Men fixture, the actress who played Don Draper's real wife Anna. It has the same biting satirical wit and willingness to go into taboo territory that has become the hallmark of Bobcat's style. I think God Bless America looks fantastic. It is true that in a post Columbine, post Jared Loughner world these kind of images take on a dark resonance. However, I think that this is part of Bobcat's wit, the way he turns the joke on you. The key line in the trailer for me was when Rumsen said "Why have a civilization if nobody wants to be civil anymore?" Yes it is annoying and uncivil when people use cell phones in a theatre, or broadcast their hateful rhetoric over news media, and the fantasy of eliminating them has a certain allure to the chronically frustrated and powerless. Yet what is more uncivil than going around killing people for annoying character traits? That seems to me the point the film wants to make: the basic glue of civility holding society together is becoming unstuck and those that think they're exempt are probably the worst offenders. Haven't seen the film yet though so that is only my projection, based on what I saw in the trailer. Definitely gonna see this one. Bobcat has got some balls and is really creating a satiric niche that did not exist before.
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But it seems like he is just trying to hard to piss people off and press peoples buttons. I guess after he made a movie about beastiality and nobody noticed he figured he should take it a step further. I guess we can expect a pro terrorist flick or "pederast..a love story" coming from Bobcat in a year or so. What ever floats your boat man. At least you know you'll always have Harry's sick ,twisted perverted self to promote it for you.
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Jan. 29, 2012, 2:14 a.m. CST
I knew this whole "First Half-Black President" thing would eventually lead to some incredibly engaging material
by MooseMalloy
It's WHITE RAGE: THE MOVIE! This trailer reminds me of so many film school shorts that I have been forced to sit through. Bobcat is the eternal snickering late-teen of Hollywood. You remember that bunch don't you? Those were the guys who always laughed the loudest at their own projects, therefore proving that it was funny.
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Jan. 29, 2012, 2:25 a.m. CST
Honestly, having seen it cold, not knowing a thing about it, I wouldn't have wanted to see a poster or a trailer.
by Ryan Dawson
And now here it is to spoil the movie for you assholes - you should have added. Conflict of interest if you ask me.
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I love "Falling Down" too. I'm either a psychopath or I'm one of the few sane people left.
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Jan. 29, 2012, 3:33 a.m. CST
Movie about 2 White People who only kill bad people...who happen to all be White
by ShamelessElitist
That's Jewish Hollywood for ya.
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Jan. 29, 2012, 3:38 a.m. CST
Also, I love how the trailer prominently shows a "God hates Jews" group (who is white) getting killed
by ShamelessElitist
Get those shekels, Bobcat!
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There's nothing original about this film. It's basically Natural Born Killers for the 2000's.
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Jan. 29, 2012, 4:38 a.m. CST
This movie could inspire someone. If you know what I mean. Which is scary.
by Orionsangels
It's not the first time.
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this film looks great, and i cant wait to see it. all i need now is for the guy in the movie to come and shoot half the people on this site, for their stupid, ignorant, constantly negative comments. and people who comment on spelling and grammer on the internet, you are the lowest of the low. you are like a peadophile. the world will be so much better without you.
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Jan. 29, 2012, 5:35 a.m. CST
@theburninghand This is exactly what I'm talking about. theburninghand was inspired by this trailer to make that statement.
by Orionsangels
This movie is cool to people like theburninghand. It's relatable and badass to this person. I'm not saying you'd actually shoot anyone or you mean it, but some might and that's scary. Remember, Natural Born Killers had copy cats.
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Now must get ready for school *pump click*
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Jan. 29, 2012, 6:37 a.m. CST
It's good that he only kills people in his income bracket...if he were killing Investment Fund Managers, that would be EVIL...
by BurnHollywood
...Especially if they were campaign contributors to Jesus Hussein Obama.
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i love that guy too....poor dad from Shameless
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Because then racists think the movie is high art and won't shut up about it, like LA Confidential and American History X.
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Too bad the general public is toooooo fuckin' stupid to get it, since Bobcat is pretty much mocking them. BTW- I can't believe how Bobcat has become a really good writer and director. 'World's Greatest Dad' is awesome.
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The last guy who took the 2 parking spots.. I could be wrong.. but was that Josh Jackson? If it was.. greatest moment EVER.. LOL... I could be way off, but it was who it looked like. I may need a bigger monitor.
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Are the types whose characters get shot down by those two. They need to see this movie IMMEDIATELY.
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March 1 1901 and it just takes your word for it.
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This looks kinda stupid. They shoot awful people? I guess that makes them cool. Just feel like it's trying too hard.
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So how does it end?
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So you limp wristed liberals jerk off over a movie depicting 2 loser thrill killers, yet you have a stroke when Seal Team 6 places a 9mm round between Bin Laden's eyes. Typical!
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What are you saying? That you think people should upload their birth certificates to the site, or something, just so they can watch a trailer?
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Jan. 29, 2012, 10:21 a.m. CST
@iamtommy hahaha not but how many 110 year olds visit AICN?
by tangcameo
Or even go anywhere near a computer?
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Jan. 29, 2012, 12:54 p.m. CST
How is a Bobcat Goldthwait movie @ #1 in Talkback chatter?
by SaunDann
I'm baffled by it!
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how many of you- if you ran into someone like the main character- truly feel you would not be shot yourselves.. who isn't frustrated...but who among you is above doing some inconsiderate, self-centered and idiotic shit from time to time.. i hope this movie really gets into answering some interesting questions in regards to that...because so far it looks like Superiority Complex: The Movie we're all part of the problem. your anger and frustration is no more righteous than your neighbor...you'll think he doesn't get it...that the movie is making fun of him for what an oblivious asshole of a sheep he can be...and he'll be thinking the same about you...
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Jan. 29, 2012, 1:20 p.m. CST
This movie is giving me ideas about what to do to Michael Bay
by AsimovLives
And JJ Abrams, if he keeps making more bullshit movies like his Star Trek for one more decade. It's not pleasant thoughts. Anyway, i found the trailer hilarious. Need to check it out, and is making me curious about the other previous movies made by Bobcat Goldthwait. The Police Academy guy has gone far. Great.
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I agree. That's the second thing I thought about this movie after thinking that it's going to give moral permission to some borderline homicidal nut to kill a bunch of people.
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In an insane society, the sane man must appear insane.
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Really guys? FALLING DOWN is contrived but this isn't? Frankly, I think it would be ballsy if Bobcat had his main character pop in on a crowded audience watching GOD BLESS AMERICA and kill the entire audience.
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If I had a gun, you'd all be dead! The better technology won. You don't speak for all consumers. Americans bought 360s because it was out first and was cheaper up front, and wanted it now now now, and then paid for online every year for the meager priveledges it has over the competition because they're all so social and facebooky and then wonder why their economy as a whole is in the shitter and they're saddled with debt. If the Xbox 360 included an HD-DVD player, people would've still been returning them after they red-ringed and would be less inclined to buy 5 more time after time because then the price would cost more. But then again... maybe they would, after all they already would've been invested in the games and HD-DVD collection that they've justified spending 5 times the money over again. Microsoft knew HD-DVD was never going to make it. But they sold you a peripheral anyway as a way of prolonging the war and throwing a bone into Sony's PS3 for a little while. Now they're selling you Kinects for Just Dance and arm waving minigames that hardly work. And you keep buying it! And you'll all buy that shitty Kinect Star Wars game too! FACT! Someone get those two in the trailer an Xbox 360 and a lifetime supply of Gold Passes! They can hop online and shoot people as much as they want! This proves video games decrease violent crime! There is nothing more traditional than the time honored American hobby of shooting people! That's the REAL APPEAL of this film! It's not who they're shooting, so much as it's an excuse to see caricatured people getting shot!
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i identify with the victims in the sense that they are human beings everyone in the movie trailer is a douche, ESPECIALLY the guy who takes a little girl on a murder spree but none of them deserve to be murdered except, maybe the guy himself i watched an episode of Jon Stewart last night and he was pointing out the absurdity of the Supreme Court being uptight about allowing nudity and swearing on broadcast tv before 10 pm. Jon showed clips of horrific violence that shows on cop shows before 10 pm. decapitated heads. people being shot to death. beaten. a whole lot of bits about men being sodomized with fruit. the point being that what is really fucked up about our society is that we are self righteous about little things like swearing and uptight about beautiful things like our bodies but perfectly alright with horrific violence i watched the trailer above and i thought it was fantastically made, but quality doesn't erase the obvious fact that it's just another example of how this country still thinks that violence is just a normal acceptable part of life. instead of something to aspire to rise above. this movie isn't a critique of our society. it's an example of one of our society's biggest flaws. imo.
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your coments made you look like you were being very protective of the victims of the likking spree perpectuated by the protagonists of the movie. might it never occured to you that the movie does not embrace the actions of the protagonists? just because they are the protagonists doesn't mean the mlovie sides with them. that's why it's a satire and presented as a comedy. and something tells me the trailer does n't exactly capture the dark comedy aspects and nature of the movie. the trailer has to sell, so it plays up the comedy and the premise the most apetising way possible. i'm certain that if you watched the movie, you will see that the protagonists are as much the butt of the joke as their victims. i can see that from the trailer. imagine, if you will, a movie in which everybody are assholes. the fun of it is to watch a bunch of assholes doing shit to each other. that can be a lot of fun, specially if presented as dark comedy. i think this movie is like that. also, you ever heard of the concept of villain protagonist? it's a story in which the villain of the piece is the protagonist. which means the movie does not support the protagonist actions, and the fun is to see his evil takes center stage and we go on a ride with him. you know what i mean? i think too often people miss the point of a movie just because they have this strange assuption that a movie sides with a protagonist always no matters what it depicits. when so often is not the case.
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hmmm... good points.
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Jan. 29, 2012, 4:56 p.m. CST
I literally felt like I was hyperventilating laughing at the film... or how my hands hurt applauding various monologues
by Breotan
Note to self: NEVER attend any showing that Harry is also present at.
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Jan. 29, 2012, 5:44 p.m. CST
Yup, looks like Super without costumes & Ellen Page raping people
by JacksParasites
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Being a fan of Bob Goldthwait for many years, I always look forward to any project of his, and this is no exception. But I've been struck by how many comments this post has attracted, and it's gotten me to thinking – why is this movie so controversial? It covers some of the same territory as both Shakes the Clown and World's Greatest Dad, but neither of those films attracted so much early controversy. As I started reading the posts, I found that fans of the trailer (or fans who had already seen the movie) championed it as being a vital critique, while detractors argued that it was: smug, irresponsible, and too pat or easy. Some thoughts: As for the accusation of “Superiority Complex: The Movie,” how many truly intelligent people don't have a trace of smug superiority? The same accusation could easily be levied against any one of Bill Hicks' many (amazing) stand-up comedy performances, or of anything from Lenny Bruce, for that matter. And it strikes me as odd that some of the people who accuse this movie of seeming smug don't see the same thing in World's Greatest Dad. That movie was dripping superiority, and was no less funny for it. So, why is this movie tripping people's triggers? Is it that people identify with the victims, as some talkbackers have claimed? Or is it that people are afraid that they to might be viewed by someone like Goldthwait as being “part of the problem?” I don't know, but I find it fascinating that this movie is already attracting such hate, when World's Greatest Dad and Shakes the Clown didn't. As for the concern of copycat crimes inspired by this movie, that is a salient point. But I would argue that people inclined to snap and go on a rampage will find some excuse to do so, whether it's this movie or something else. John Hinkley, Jr. attempted to rescue Jodie Foster from President Ronald Reagan via an assassination attempt because he watched Taxi Driver. Who else besides him would have made that connection? David Mark Chapman killed John Lennon because he so closely identified with misanthrope Holden Caulfield in A Catcher In the Rye (and it's notable that Holden Caulfield never shot anybody). And the list goes on. There have been many others, most among them Bernie Goetz and the Columbine killers, who weren't “inspired” by any pop culture touchstone; they just snapped. This brings up another point: If you censor yourself from making, in your opinion, a vital and necessary statement for fear of the effects that it might have on others, is that social responsibility or irresponsibility? And as for this movie being “too easy” or pat, is it any more easy than World's Greatest Dad or Mike Judge's Idiocracy (which many of the same talkbackers seem to love)? I was a fan of both movies, but I could definitely understand why some critics might view them as being straw men movies (Idiocracy never attempted to give any benefit of the doubt to 20th century American society, and WGD, while showing complexity in the father/son relationship, showed no such complexity in the reactions of the students or general public to the journal). So, back to my original question: Why this movie? What is it about it that has people so galvanized and divided? Thoughts?
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Jan. 29, 2012, 7:18 p.m. CST
I'm an optimist about life in general, but there's an awful lot of this film that just rang bitterly true.
by PTSDPete
Yeah, that begun when you started referring to liberals as 'left wing'.
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Jan. 29, 2012, 7:27 p.m. CST
Why does someone else's stupidity anger you so much?
by Dapper Swindler
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It glorifies killing. It makes it look cool and like a solution to solving your problems. A film like this easily preys on lost souls. Just the read some of the comments here. They're not gonna act out on what they're saying, but somewhere there's that person that wants to kill themselves and sees this film. They figure why not take out those people I hate before I do myself in. This film makes it look possible and does it in such a badass manner. Now God forbid that ever happens. I'm not saying this film doesn't have it's place or isn't good. I haven't seen it. None of us have, but it's a rare bird in the realm of movie making. It has the potential to be one of those defining a generation type of movies.
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A whole lot of truth in that trailer.
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In the sequel he's going after internet commenters who write "First!"
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You should have seen the Groundhog Day-style script I had written in 1989. Fact is, almost every great idea you have has probably been done by someone else, or will be if you aren't quick about. And often the other guy will be thinking about it at the same time as you are, because you've had a similar set of influences, the tech is similar, the world is a similar place at that moment etc. In the case of Groundhog Day, I think the rise of video gaming as a mainstream art-form in the 80s triggered many people's brains to think about real life as a repeatable video game where you could take your knowledge of previous attempts at a level and use them to your advantage when starting again from the same spot.
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Just read the entire talkback. Someone says something bad about a movie they've never seen. Another person chimes in with a cheap insult. First person fires off another, more personal insult. Bang! The second guy is dead! Third person makes a sweeping generalization about a particular political culture. Bang! All progressives/conservatives are dead! More terrible insults directed at unseen movie AND someone else AND an offer to seek psychological help. Bang!! Satire is dead!
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So this is going to be another white people are crazy and shoot each other film? We can't show a minority in a negative light and have our white "hero" shooting him and making society better which seems to be the point of the film. Pass.
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Especially when I read some talkbacks…
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Jan. 30, 2012, 1:56 p.m. CST
What makes it really funny is that weird loners and teenagers don't actually go on shooting sprees...
by BurnHollywood
...And of course, no one who's gone postal actually thought their victims were intellectually inferior or evil. Funny, funny stuff. It takes a genius like Bobcat to make me see the lighter side of mass murder.
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Steve Gerber did something like this, though I'm wagering much more effectively and subtly, in his moving and gripping 1990 DC Comics series, "Foolkiller". That comic has no particular political agenda, and made it's targets liberal, conservative, black, white, etc. And while the main character was generally supposed to be sympathetic, Gerber didn't cheer lead for him or shy away from presently some of the inherent flaws of his methods and philosophy. No animus intended, this just seems a bit too obvious.
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Jan. 30, 2012, 9:49 p.m. CST
It's cool everybody, there won't be any need for your own killing spree to take place --
by MooseMalloy
-- because we'll all be floating off into space soon enough.
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