the films of david wain

these are some of my favourite funny movies tbrr. i actually don't think i've seen role models. the ten is a lost classic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJkEy4mP0sY

have avoided all

he did it as a goof!

I had extremely low expectations for Role Models, and I love that movie. I will still probably vote WHAS, though.

"as a goof!" LOL

I've seen/heard a lot of criticism of They Came Together that's very reminiscent of the 'I clearly don't get what they're doing here' criticism Wet Hot American Summer received at the time of its release. I don't think it's as good as WHAS but it was pretty effing funny. I kinda get the not getting it, though, because I really wasn't feeling The Ten until I saw it a second time.

Don't know why I still haven't seen Role Models. Everything else is tops.

WHAS wins on this exchange alone, which still cracks me up

"In order to do it, we would somehow have to be able to repeatedly generate random numbers between one and twenty, in order to calibrate the deferential."

"That would take some sort of super mainframe computer and we don't have one."

"Wait! No dungeon master worth his weight in geldings goes anywhere without his.....20-sided die"

I will watch anything he does. They Came Together was exactly what I wanted btw (ie a David Wain movie).

All good, voted The Ten

while part of why he's a cult favorite is that "is this movie kidding?" confusion Old Lunch cites, I think there's also the fact that a lot of the time he chooses subjects to nose-tweak that have ZERO zeitgeist at the time of release. A parody of Meatballs 80s teen sex hijinks in 2001, a movie about yuppies becoming hippies in 2012, a parody of new york romantic comedies in 2014, and a parody of The Decalogue in any year ever. Role Models is the only time the subject was at least half of-the-moment, a manchild buddy movie coming out amidst the apatow movies, and it's his only box office hit. So on top of that he doesn't underline the parody with DATE MOVIE style idiocy, he's also making NOT ANOTHER POST-WOODY ALLEN NY ROM COM 15 years after the last big one. it's kind of sctv, in that indifference to topicality. I love sctv so of course i'm down, but I kinda hope one day he'll accidentally hit the nail on the head and have a blockbuster.

These dudes are so lazy and inconsistent

I agree. David is usually great but Wain is unfocused and his work can be patchy.

Have only seen WHAS and The Ten. I'll try to catch up over the next few weeks and vote in this thing.

I've seen Wanderlust, but I think it's been replaced by Our Idiot Brother in my brain

Wanderlust is the one with Rudd's sex faces in the mirror, which is up there with the climax of the Rock and Samuel L. Jackson's arc in The Other Guys among the 'scenes that absolutely fucking slayed me from comedies that were otherwise mostly just agreeably diverting' pantheon.

Lol Evan

only seen WHAS and role models, both great

a parody of The Decalogue in any year ever

had no idea of this connection

Morbs, just pretend that these movies are fifty years old and you will love them.

Tried twice to watch They Came Together but couldn't make it.

Predictable jokes, toothless send-ups of stale genre conventions, winking at the camera, etc. The kinds of things that are only "funny" to high school drama club types.

haven't seen all of these, but They Came Together is the best of the ones I've seen

Predictable jokes, toothless send-ups of stale genre conventions, winking at the camera, etc.

Most critics of Wain's work seem to be able to articulate exactly what he's doing without going the extra step of considering why he's doing it.

The parodic elements of his movies aren't as funny/interesting to me as the absurdism.

Which is maybe why I love Stella more than any of the movies (though I like the movies too).

my favorite joke in TCT is someone saying "I'm sorry" in response to Poehler complaining what a shitty day she's having and Poehler saying "apology accepted!"

Stella is sadly overlooked, it's true.

Most critics of Wain's work seem to be able to articulate exactly what he's doing without going the extra step of considering why he's doing it.

How hard should I have to work? This is supposed to be a comedy. I'm not laughing.

I miss Stella too, but all of his movies have their moments. They Came Together seemed like less of a compromise with a studio than Wanderlust.

i love his recurring joke of having characters recite endless lists, often in response to a rhetorical question. mostly because of how funny he clearly finds it.

ugh you are clearly a high school drama club type

fucking adolescent thespians with their "jokes" and their knowing sarcasm

You can say that again.

The aspects of the Stella dudes' aesthetic that I most appreciate are basically the same as what I love most about Tim & Eric: taking tired and often outright awful comedy/entertainment cliches, knocking those cliches just a few degrees off their axes, and projecting them back with equal parts affection and disdain. Occasionally to the point of grotesquerie. And, yes, also the absurdity.

I rewatched TCT the other night and noticed that the kid who plays Amy Poehler's son is the same kid who plays the young Matt Murdock in Daredevil.

write-in vote for (non-film) wainy days

write-in vote for first 3 seasons of Children's Hospital

lol no just kidding WHAS all the way

if you wanna smear mud you on ass, smear mud on your ass

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fspvX1j1CqI

Haha - Christopher Meloni's They Came Together scene shitting himself in his superhero costume is some very funny physical comedy.

He's had an amazing run.

These movies are so funny to me that I condescendingly feel sad for people who don't see how fun they are

They Came Together benefits from repeat views. kinda like The Baxter.

Rudd's reaction when Amy throws water on him at the halloween party is classic

maybe i should give "they came together" another chance some day, the one time i watched it i thought the jokes were really weak. i love WHAS/role models/wanderlust. from the netflix thread:

that amy poehler paul rudd romcom spoof is so bad! and every funny person is in it! how did it go so wrong? i stopped watching it. but maybe i should try again? it was directed by david wain! and written by david wain and michael showalter! it was practically BORN to win.

― scott seward, Friday, April 24, 2015 12:36 PM (2 weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Don't bother, we watched till the end. It's TERRIBLE, and I'm generally a fan of all those people. Though most of those State folk have always been incredibly inconsistent.

― dan selzer, Friday, April 24, 2015 12:38 PM (2 weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Eh, I felt like some parts worked and some parts didn't. Wasn't too offended by the weaker bits.

yeah, it's a stupid joke every 15 seconds, so it's ok if some fail. a lot of the dialogue is on the Beth and Henry level:

Henry: I teach astrophysics over at the college in the school year. And I came here this summer just to, you know, relax and reflect.
Beth: Wow! You're a professor. What do you teach?
Henry: Well, like I said before, astrophysics.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Rewatches most of they came. The "this is the part of the movie" cliche call outs felt repetitive and tired but plenty of other great bits around them. The zoom in to Rudd on the phone made me lose my shit all over again, as did his "thanks" standoff with Max greenfield

Enjoyed it all the first time in a theater - the promo screening I saw went so well I was shocked it didn't get more of a theatrical run

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

as noted elsewhere, i'm unfamiliar with this guy's work and instinctively wish to keep it that way, but he's doing a Doug Kenney biopic (ie it's time to recreate the founding of the National Lampoon).

http://splitsider.com/2016/04/thomas-lennon-to-play-michael-odonoghue-in-david-wains-national-lampoon-movie/

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/joel-mchale-portray-chevy-chase-880980

Bevers playin' Belushi B-)

while part of why he's a cult favorite is that "is this movie kidding?" confusion Old Lunch cites, I think there's also the fact that a lot of the time he chooses subjects to nose-tweak that have ZERO zeitgeist at the time of release. A parody of Meatballs 80s teen sex hijinks in 2001, a movie about yuppies becoming hippies in 2012, a parody of new york romantic comedies in 2014, and a parody of The Decalogue in any year ever. Role Models is the only time the subject was at least half of-the-moment, a manchild buddy movie coming out amidst the apatow movies, and it's his only box office hit. So on top of that he doesn't underline the parody with DATE MOVIE style idiocy, he's also making NOT ANOTHER POST-WOODY ALLEN NY ROM COM 15 years after the last big one. it's kind of sctv, in that indifference to topicality. I love sctv so of course i'm down, but I kinda hope one day he'll accidentally hit the nail on the head and have a blockbuster.

― da croupier, Tuesday, May 12, 2015 11:30 AM (10 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This is a good post ^

my main motivation in starting this thread was to coax croup and balls to explain to me in smart words why i love these stupid movie so much

i like all his movies i think they're funny