National Lampoon's Movie Madness (1982)

This is National Lampoon; it's what they do.Off-beat comical cynicism - a satirical attack - which probably doesn't appeal to most, so it's no surprise that so many people think so poorly of it. It's not meant for most people.Dated? Has it "aged well"? I think it has not, so this presents another stumbling block in the path of the viewer. I'm not a follower of National Lampoon - I don't really expect anything great coming from them, but we shouldn't completely dismiss the juvenile mind's penchant for poking fun at the world around it.In three skits - NL pokes fun at three movie genres: #1 - "Growing Yourself" A silly, impulse driven, narcissism - a study in self-help extravagance.#2 - "Success Wanters" - For all those movies about the protagonist - clawing their way to the top in a dog-eat-dog - shark-tank world.#3 - "Municipalians" - Our brave blue clad centurions; cop movies - in particular, the partnered cops - one old and wise and the rookie.National Lampoon looks at these three tired; tried and true clichés and pokes fun at them - lampoons them without mercy (cause that's what NL does).I only gave it a 5 star rating, because, well ... as cinema goes - it's not very good, but for those rare few who enjoy lampooning the status quo, I encourage you to give it a try.I watched it on commercial TV; edited. I let it play in the background while I did other things (chores, internet surfing, etc). And, from time to time, my attention was drawn to some very clever dialogue and very fun character performances (actually well acted).If I had the time and expertise, I'd be tempted to edit the movie down to the funniest scenes - might just be a very fun (though short) and entertaining film (though a lot of the gags benefit from the lengthy setups).Like most comedy - some scenes work and some don't, but some of the gags were "laugh out loud" - VERY funny. And, for me they were worth the price of admission (which was virtually free and took the tiniest bit of my time).

"Stupid" is the word that kept coming to mind as I watched this travesty masquerading as a movie. Humor is subjective, so pertaining to that I will only state that I did not find this film funny at all. It wasn't that I found it offensive, simply unfunny. This is a comedy anthology, consisting of three separate segments featuring all different actors. In the first story, "Growing Yourself," Peter Riegert plays a man who has everything: a well- paying job, a beautiful wife and a brood of decent children. He wants to grow as a person, so he tells his wife to leave him. Sound plausible? I didn't think so either. The ending is even worse, with the parents flipping a coin to see which parent gets to keep one of the couple's remaining two children. The best thing about this segment is Teresa Ganzel, a blast from Johnny Carson's "The Tonight Show" past. The second story is only slightly better, with Ann Dusenberry going to extreme lengths to exact revenge on the butter industry (don't ask) executives who wronged her. There were a couple jokes about having margarine in her veins or in her blood, which were the only remotely humorous things about this one. The last segment features Robby Benson (remember him?) as an overly optimistic police officer in a precinct full of jaded, apathetic veteran officers. I give Mr. Benson credit for at least trying to carry this bad idea to fruition, but everyone else simply phones it in. Unless you are dying to see Teresa Ganzel or Ann Dusenberry topless, or if you are genuinely a glutton for punishment, there is really no reason to watch this.

Hey, this was a parody, and I thought it was pretty funny in parts. It was arranged in order from weakest to best episodes.I didn't care for the first episode at all. It just seemed pointless, and the parody elements were over the top. I guess I missed the redeeming feature of Teresa Ganzel's T&A scene because I saw the movie on TV, where they censor anything good.The second episode about the corporate climbing rags-to-riches story was better, but I really didn't get into it until just about the end, where the First Lady relinquishes her marriage and position to Dominique. that's when it struck me that this whole story was just a parody of a feminist's wet dream. Then I thought the story was pretty funny, but fairly predictable and linear.The third episode I thought was great! I loved the parody of every serious cop coming-of-age flick ever done, and I liked Robby Benson's acting. Yes, I said that. I thought his smarmy, sensitive young cop fresh out of the academy was just sickening enough to avoid being over the top, and then I absolutely loved the way he suddenly became a rude, burned-out, unkempt, obnoxious cop. It was a great juxtaposition and I gained respect for Benson right there.The plot of the third episode was tight, and it even had a twist at the end after the burned-out Falcone kicks Nagursky out of the car to attend to a dangerous domestic dispute, and then Falcone ends up getting shot (again), even though he stayed in the car this time!Actually, I saw the end of this movie several years ago and I remembered the little closing shot of Benson doing some Buster-Keaton-like prat-falls down the road as the iris fade closes in. I was impressed by his physical acting (if that was indeed Benson and not a stunt double).

This film was suppose to be the follow-up to ANIMAL HOUSE. But it sat on the shelf for a while and finally went straight to cable. As a longtime fan of National Lampoon magazine I was eager to see the film (the shelf period should have warned me). And when I finally did see it I was very disappointed. Aside for a few moments of gratuitous nudity, this film has nothing going for it at all. The 3 segments just lie there with no other purpose than to say "ha ,ha, ha isn't this funny". How they managed to get veteran actors Robert Culp and Richard Widmark to appear in this junk is beyond me. Lampoon has gone on to make other films. Some good ones (VACATION, CHRISTMAS VACATION) and some stinkers (CLASS REUNION, THE DON"S ANALYST, DAD'S WEEKEND OFF) but this film has to be the worst from a franchise that was once at the cutting edge of contemporary humor.