Sometimes there’s no greater, more sublime pleasure in the world than sitting around with the guys, drinking beer and watching some crummy movie. Somebody makes a joke about what’s on the screen, and before you know it, you’re neck-deep in a two-hour contest of one-upmanship, seeing who can be the funniest, wittiest or (more likely) crudest member of the audience. The best evenings like this end with everyone laughing until they puke, or maybe just you puking from too much beer, but either way, a boring night in front of the TV is transformed into a memorable occasion, destined to be brought up whenever your pals meet your fiancé, family, boss, children, etcetera, ad nauseum (so to speak).
But what if you don’t have any friends?
If that’s the case, you might want to do something besides spending your evening in front of the tube. Still, if you’re dying for the illusion that you’re the funniest dude in the room (even though you win by default if you have no friends), you might want to wander over to your computer and check out these efforts that make fun of fan films.
Viral Video Film School: Indiana Jones takes a scathing but funny look at fan flicks based on that guy in the fedora. InfoMania’s Brett Erlich points out clichés and a few smart truths about ‘em (the bit about guns is a riot). Of course, making fun of 9-year-old kids for their lack of production values is akin to making fun of three-legged dogs for walking funny, but I guess someone had to do it; luckily it wasn’t me.
Less amusing, and far longer, is Rifftrax—the guys who used to do Mystery Science Theater 3000—who’ve created their own comedic commentary for Star Trek: New Voyages’ “World Enough and Time” (AKA, “The One with George Takei in it”). While the Rifftrax crew is usually led by Mike Nelson, this edition was done by the site’s B-team, and should tell you everything you need to know. Still, if you dig it, head on over to their site, fork over a few bucks and you’ll get a commentary for the entire episode.
All of this goes to show why the Internet is the pinnacle of modern convenience: Now you don’t even have to make fun of movies yourself anymore; you can just pay someone to do it for you. Word to the wise: If you go ahead and outsource the rest of your life, just make sure you keep that “eating” part in-house.
