Tag: terrible movies

Really Awful Movies: Ep 189 – The Love Guru

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Whoa.

2008’s The Love Guru, pretty much sank Mike Myers. And that’s a DAMN shame. It’s a terrible movie, to be sure, but a terrific comedic talent like Myers, deserves another shot.

Despite supporting cast-mates like Justin Timberlake, Stephen Colbert, Jim Gaffigan, John Oliver and Sir Ben Kingsley, The Love Guru really lays a big-time egg. This is a monumental stinker, and while not on the level of Master of Disguise, it’s still something to behold. Juvenile zingers, tepid puns…sure, these were present in Austin Powers, but that had an indelible (eponymous) lead that left his mark on pop culture forever.

Not so here.

The Love Guru is lost in no man’s land, neither satirical enough to pot-shot self-help culture, nor lascivious enough to be a Charles Manson-type figure. It just hangs there on a vine.

In a nutshell (“help, I’m in a nutshell!” – see, Austin Powers was the kind of quotable film The Love Guru is not), Guru Pitka is brought in to help a Toronto Maple Leaf star get back together with his wife, so that he can win the Stanley Cup, and help get the Guru to the top of the Guru heap (usurping Deepak Chopra).

Behold, the movie that left Mike Myers in the dust as a comedic force.

On this episode of the Really Awful Movies Podcast, we talk about:

  • Scarborough, the east end of Toronto that inspired some of Myers’ greatest characters, such as Wayne Campbell.
  • The early days of SNL
  • Mike is back, as the host of, of all things, The Gong Show?
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs, our sorry excuse for an NHL team, once mighty, and now pretty much a shell of their former selves (or, uh, selfs?)
  • Why is it that comedians in movies have such a short shelf life?
  • What should Myers do next?

Really Awful Movies: Ep 179 – From Justin to Kelly

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Charitably listed as a “comedy” on IMDb, the laughs are always unintentional in the horrific, From Justin to Kelly.

And the synopsis is thus: “A waitress from Texas and a college student from Pennsylvania (‘the Pennsylvania Posse’, a group that includes the fro-ed Justin Guarini) meet during spring break in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and come together through their shared love of singing.” They certainly don’t come together in any other sense as this thing is TAME TAME TAME. The occasional beer is quaffed (not nearly as many as we’d regularly consume during a podcast recording) and an endless array of set pieces prevent Justin (Guarini) from finally meeting up with Kelly (Clarkson).

And no fireworks can be had. Not the barest of sprinkles, or the faintest of explosions.

So why this musical? We actually like musicals, and have discussed several on the Really Awful Movies Podcast, a program devoted to genre cinema.

If you’re a fan of American Idol or The Voice, you’ll know that while the latter consistently struggles with “putting over” (to use a WWE term) its talent, American Idol has actually produced a few bona fide stars. Kelly Clarkson is one of them, a pop culture supernova immortalized in the 40-Year-Old Virgin. Justin Guarini, is not one of them. So it’s interesting to see where their careers headed after this shameless cash grab.

So, sit back, take a listen to a few of the tunes, and of course…WATCH THE MOVIE FIRST and join us for a discussion of…From Justin to Kelly. And subscribe too.

 

Really Awful Movies: Ep 175 – Fun in Acapulco

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Elvis Presley. The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Here he is, or was, at near the peak of his powers (or just about to level off) in one of the many, many terrible movies he appeared in, FUN IN ACAPULCO.

The massive pop culture icon plays Mike, a former member of a flying trapeze circus act, who finds himself lost in…Acapulco, and needing to find work to make ends meet.

Jeez, that old yarn.

He gets connected with a little kid, who becomes his manager, landing him singing gigs at all the best hotels/clubs in the Mexican town, usually accompanied by horrible mariachi singers. Along the way, there are a couple of love interests (one of whom is played by Bond babe, Ursella Andress) and of course, a fierce (well, not really) rivalry between gringo Mike and a competitive cliff diver (again…once you’ve seen one mano a mano tilt between a lounge singer and a competitive cliff diver, you’ve pretty much seen ’em all).

On this episode of the Really Awful Movies Podcast, Jeff and Chris break down the phenomenon of Elvis Aaron Presley with a discussion about:

  • Graceland
  • The period when Elvis left to join the army
  • How we came to become familiar with The King
  • The movies Elvis made
  • Colonel Tom Parker
  • Graceland
  • The “27 Club.”
  • Whether Fun in Acapulco has any good songs
  • Fat Elvis, the Vegas years

And much, much more.

So thank you for listening…and…thank you…thank you very much.