Fighting the System

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

The original cowriter and director of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was Alex Cox, whose earlier film Sid and Nancy suggests that Cox could have been a perfect match in filming Hunter S. Thompson's psychotropic masterpiece of "gonzo" journalism. Unfortunately Cox departed due to the usual "creative differences," and this ill-fated adaptation was thrust upon Terry Gilliam, whose formidable gifts as a visionary filmmaker were squandered on the seemingly unfilmable elements of Thompson's ether-fogged narrative. The result is a one-joke movie without the joke--an endless series of repetitive scenes involving rampant substance abuse and the hallucinogenic fallout of a road trip that's run crazily out of control. Johnny Depp plays Thompson's alter ego, "gonzo" journalist Raoul Duke, and Benicio Del Toro is his sidekick and so-called lawyer Dr. Gonzo. During the course of a trip to Las Vegas to cover a motorcycle race, they ingest a veritable chemistry set of drugs, and Gilliam does his best to show us the hallucinatory state of their zonked-out minds. This allows for some dazzling imagery and the rampant humor of stumbling buffoons, and the mumbling performances of Depp and Del Toro wholeheartedly embrace the tripped-out, paranoid lunacy of Thompson's celebrated book. But over two hours of this insanity tends to grate on the nerves--like being the only sober guest at a party full of drunken idiots. So while Gilliam's film may achieve some modest cult status over the years, it's only because Fear and Loathing is best enjoyed by those who are just as stoned as the characters in the movie. --Jeff Shannon

Catch-22

Joseph Heller's novel was one of the seminal literary events of the 1960s, but Mike Nichols's film ultimately proved too literal in its attempt to bring Heller's fragmented fiction to the screen. Still, Nichols, who made this on the heels of The Graduate, seemed the ideal candidate to tackle this Buck Henry adaptation. The story deals with bomber pilot Yossarian (Alan Arkin), who has flown enough missions to get out of World War II but can't because the number of missions needed for discharge keeps getting raised. The satire and absurdity of Heller's book get lost in Nichols's effort to give screen time to the members of his all-star cast, which includes Orson Welles, Jon Voight, Bob Newhart, Anthony Perkins, Richard Benjamin, and Martin Sheen, among others. --Marshall Fine

Office Space - Special Edition with Flair (Widescreen Edition)

Comedic tale of company workers who hate their jobs and decide to rebel against their greedy boss.
No Track Information Available
Media Type: DVD
Artist: OFFICE SPACE
Title: OFFICE SPACE
Street Release Date: 03/06/2007
Domestic
Genre: COMEDY VIDEO

Ever spend eight hours in a "Productivity Bin"? Ever had worries about layoffs? Ever had the urge to demolish a temperamental printer or fax machine? Ever had to endure a smarmy, condescending boss? Then Office Space should hit pretty close to home for you. Peter (Ron Livingston) spends the day doing stupefyingly dull computer work in a cubicle. He goes home to an apartment sparsely furnished by IKEA and Target, then starts for a maddening commute to work again in the morning. His coworkers in the cube farm are an annoying lot, his boss is a snide, patronizing jerk, and his days are consumed with tedium. In desperation, he turns to career hypnotherapy, but when his hypno-induced relaxation takes hold, there's no shutting it off. Layoffs are in the air at his corporation, and with two coworkers (both of whom are slated for the chute) he devises a scheme to skim funds from company accounts. The scheme soon snowballs, however, throwing the three into a panic until the unexpected happens and saves the day. Director Mike Judge has come up with a spot-on look at work in corporate America circa 1999. With well-drawn characters and situations instantly familiar to the white-collar milieu, he captures the joylessness of many a cube denizen's work life to a T. Jennifer Aniston plays Peter's love interest, a waitress at Chotchkie's, a generic beer-and-burger joint à la Chili's, and Diedrich Bader (The Drew Carey Show) has a minor but hilarious turn as Peter's mustached, long-haired, drywall-installin' neighbor. --Jerry Renshaw

Slap Shot (25th Anniversary Special Edition)

Paul Newman and his Butch Cassidy director, George Roy Hill, made a very original comedy in this 1977 story of an over-the-hill player/coach (Newman) for a lousy hockey team who gets results when he teaches his players to get dirty. One of the most hilariously profane movies ever to come out of Hollywood, this is the kind of film that makes its own rules as it goes along. Newman is very good, and while Hill goes for the gusto in terms of capturing the violence of this world, his instinct for comedy has never been sharper. Great support from Strother Martin, Paul Dooley, and the rest. --Tom Keogh

National Lampoon's Animal House (Widescreen Double Secret Probation Edition)

This is one of those movies that works for all the wrong reasons--disgusting, lowbrow, base humor that we are all far too sophisticated to find amusing. So, just don't tell anyone you still think it's a riot to watch John Belushi as the brutish Bluto slurp Jell-O or terrorize his less-aggressive fellow students. This crude parody of college life in the '60s spawned many imitations, but none could match the fresh-faced talent or bad taste of this huge box office success. (Remember all those toga parties in the '80s?) The first of the National Lampoon movies, this was originally released as National Lampoon's Animal House. Keep an eye out for a very young Kevin Bacon in his first credited screen appearance. --Rochelle O'Gorman

Dave

A heartwarming story of mistaken identity and idealism, director Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters) takes on the political establishment in this fresh, funny comedy. Kevin Kline (Sophie's Choice, A Fish Called Wanda) plays Dave Kovic, a sweet man with a big heart running an employment agency. Dave happens to be a dead ringer for the current president of the United States, and he hires himself out as an impersonator for parties and mall openings. When the real president has a stroke while in bed with an aide, his ambitious chief of staff (Frank Langella) decides to hold onto the White House by appealing to Dave's sense of patriotism and having him pose as the president. Soon, however, Dave is running the country in a way contrary to what the chief of staff would like, even as he finds himself falling in love with the unsuspecting first lady (Sigourney Weaver). The movie's unbridled optimism is its best asset, and it makes this a pleasant comedy worth seeing. --Robert Lane

A presidential look-alike is recruited by the Secret Service to impersonate the ailing president.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 27-SEP-2005
Media Type: DVD

Where the Buffalo Roam

Bill Murray is in his early-career, shambling glory as Hunter S. Thompson, the gonzo journalist with a fondness for Wild Turkey and firearms. While Murray does not do as exact an impersonation of Thompson as Johnny Depp (in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas), he does capture Thompson's dazed, anarchic nature. Unfortunately, the movie around him is just anarchic: a series of episodes (true or invented) from Dr. Thompson's career, circa 1968-72. The haphazard structure is probably meant to suggest the spirit of the counterculture or something, but it's just flabby storytelling. Thanks to Murray's blissful delivery, there are scenes that have a stoned giddiness to them: Thompson and his attorney (Peter Boyle) terrifying an unsuspecting hitchhiker, or Thompson alone in a men's room with Richard Nixon. Neil Young contributes some music, and Murray warbles "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" while drunkenly piloting a plane. --Robert Horton

Mister Roberts

Henry Fonda re-created his Broadway hit for this 1955 film that was mostly directed by Fonda's frequent collaborator, John Ford (Young Mr. Lincoln, My Darling Clementine)--an ailing Ford was replaced at some point by Mervyn LeRoy--and the results are exceptionally fine. A perfect cast, including James Cagney's irascible captain, William Powell's thoughtful physician, and Jack Lemmon's Oscar-winning Ensign Pulver, give Fonda the right boost to portray his ennui-burdened officer with dignity, self-effacing humor, and not a trace of self-pity. A wonderful film. --Tom Keogh

Li'l Abner

This is one movie musical that doesn't bother adapting its stage presentation for the big screen: Li'l Abner cheerfully uses brightly colored, patently fake backdrops and stage sets for its mythical setting. And why not? A movie musical based on a cartoon strip is about as far from reality as you can get. Al Capp's legendary comic about the hillbilly denizens of Dogpatch was brought to Broadway by the estimable comedy team Melvin Frank and Norman Panama, who also produced the movie. Along with sampling Capp's world (the pursuit of noncommittal Abner by Daisy Mae on Sadie Hawkins Day is a major plot device), the movie is a goofy record of 1950s attitudes and concerns--in fact, Dogpatch is threatened with destruction when the government wants to use it as an atomic test site. The actors' Broadway delivery has a deadening effect after a while, and some of the makeup is downright weird (think the Whos in the live-action Grinch). Gene de Paul's music is unmemorable, but Johnny Mercer's lyrics provide considerable fun, and the athletic dances are based on Michael Kidd's stage choreography. Plus, the movie honors Capp's eye for impossibly bodacious women by casting Julie Newmar as Stupefyin' Jones and Stella Stevens (her first movie role) as Appassionata Von Climax. --Robert Horton

LI'L ABNER, the beloved cartoon strip from Al Capp, takes place in the hillbilly town of Dogpatch, which is deemed the most useless community in America. When the city is chosen as a test site for A-bombs, its colorful citizens take up the good fight, with lots of fun and merriment.

The Hollywood Knights

Written and directed by Floyd Mutrux (American Hot Wax) The Hollywood Knights was an American Graffiti-like comedy that recounted the antics of a gang of high school students on Halloween night 1965. The film features great music from the fifties and sixties. Signed to star was a cast of young actors who would achieve greater fame in the years to come: Tony Danza Michelle Pfeiffer Fran Drescher and Robert Wuhl.System Requirements:Starring: Tony Danza Fran Drescher Leigh French Randy Gornel Gary Graham Sandy Helberg James Jeter Stuart Pankin P.R. Paul Michelle Pfeiffer Gailard Sartain Richard Schaal and Robert Wuhl. Directed By: Floyd Mutrux. Running Time: 92 Min. Color. This film is presented in both "Widescreen" and "Standard" formats. Copyright 2000 Columbia TriStar Home Video.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating:  UPC: 043396218949 Manufacturer No: 21894

You've got to give credit to the Hollywood Knights. They may be crass, juvenile, sex-mad pranksters, but they have an open-door policy: nerds and jocks alike are welcome, as long as they show proper disrespect for authority. The Hollywood Knights, a minor 1980 cult comedy poised somewhere between the innocent nostalgia of American Graffiti and the raunchy humor of Animal House, chronicles the antics of a practical-joking high school gang on Halloween night, 1965. In tribute to the last night of their favorite hangout, a Beverly Hills drive-in marked for destruction by the snooty Chamber of Commerce, the gang's court jester Newbomb Turk (Robert Wuhl in his film debut) leads the Knights in an all-out assault on the forces of law and order, conformity, and good taste. Nestled in the parade of toilet humor, fart jokes, mooning rebels, and topless co-eds, however, are the ruminations of the end of an era: the times they are a changin'. The doo-wop and surf soundtrack gives way to Motown, the Mamas and the Papas, and the Byrds as high school sweethearts Tony Danza and Michelle Pfeiffer weather the transition from puppy love to adult romance and Vietnam looms on the horizon. It's a schizophrenic film, bopping from juvenile anarchy to thoughtful drama and back again with a sloppy but energetic drive and a rowdy rebelliousness that will never be accused of sensitivity, decency, or dignity. Fran Drescher, Gary Graham, and a hilarious Stuart Pankin also star. --Sean Axmaker