IT’S JUST A JOKE: THE MOVIE PARODY BLOGATHON – Day 1 Recap

Happy Saturday, blog enthusiasts! It’s time to salute some world-class bloggers who contributed critiques of their favorite movie spoofs. So here we go with

If you haven’t read our blogathon’s entries yet, click on each of the individual blogs’ names to link to their entries. And click here to see our initial announcement of the blogathon.

Dell on Movies shafts, er, mines the blaxploitation genre for comedy gold with his take on Black Dynamite.

The Midnite Drive-In rocks out on the riches of improvisational comedy provided by This Is Spinal Tap, a “mockumentary” about a band whose volume is exceeded only by their hubris.

Realweegiemidget Reviews explains how the political satire Team America: World Police depicts powerful global leaders as mere puppets.

And finally, your faithful correspondent offers an alternate toke, er, take on Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical, a lyrical revision of the 1936 anti-marijuana propaganda film.

We still have two days to go on the blogathon, so keep us bookmarked for more great blog entries. We love ya!

 

 

 

 

 

 

REEFER MADNESS: THE MOVIE MUSICAL (2005) – Everybody must get stoned

The following is my entry in It’s Just a Joke: The Movie Parody Blogathon, being hosted at this blog from Sept. 1-3, 2017. Click on the above banner, and read bloggers’ takes on a wide variety of movie spoofs, either as genre parodies or plot devices!

Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical is a heady, sweaty mix of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Little Shop of Horrors, and Monty Python that should be eagerly devoured by fans of outrageous black comedy and be energetically avoided by everyone else.

As you might or might not know, Reefer Madness began life as a 1936 propaganda movie, telling an eerie tale about the evils of marijuana that was entirely based on nonfactual theories — chief among them that marijuana would lead its users to immorality, insanity, and jazz piano. This musical version is an obvious take-off on the original, with a cast that has a ball with the concept, including Kristen Bell, “SNL” vet Ana Gasteyer, and Alan Cumming playing a smug narrator with perfect pitch.

Be forewarned that this is comedy at its blackest. The gore gets laid on a little thick, there’s a blasphemous musical number (shades of Monty Python’s “Christmas in Heaven”) that won’t do liberals any favors, and the finale tries for social commentary after one-and-three-fourth-hours of campy fun. But in the end, this version gives a hilarious nose-thumbing to those who are all too willing to let jingoists do their thinking for them. It’s an absolute hoot.

#SatMat’s Top 5 Riffs for Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical

Here are #SatMat‘s top 5 riffs for our Jan. 30 Live Tweet of Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical, the 2005 spoof of the infamous 1936 anti-marijuana propaganda film.

 

#SatMat Live Tweet movie for Sat., Jan. 30: REEFER MADNESS: THE MOVIE MUSICAL (2005)

Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical is a heady, sweaty mix of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Little Shop of Horrors, and Monty Python that should be eagerly devoured by fans of outrageous black comedy and be energetically avoided by everyone else.

As you might or might not know, Reefer Madness began life as a 1936 propaganda movie, telling an eerie tale about the evils of marijuana that was entirely based on nonfactual theories — chief among them that marijuana would lead its users to immorality, insanity, and jazz piano. This musical version is an obvious take-off on the original, with a cast that has a ball with the concept, including “Veronica Mars'” Kristen Bell, “SNL” vet Ana Gasteyer, and Alan Manning playing a smug narrator with perfect pitch. 

Be forewarned that this is comedy at its blackest. The gore gets laid on a little thick, there’s a blasphemous musical number (shades of Monty Python’s “Christmas in Heaven”) that won’t do liberals any favors, and the finale tries for social commentary after one-and-three-fourth-hours of campy fun. But in the end, this version gives a hilarious nose-thumbing to those who are all too willing to let jingoists do their thinking for them. It’s an absolute hoot.

Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical is rated TV-MA-LSV for brief nudity, sexual situations, and stylized violence and gore. Join us at #SatMat (if you dare!) for our Live Tweet of the movie, this Saturday at 4:30 p.m. EST at Twitter.com.