80 - Not Another Teen Movie

Connection To JOE DIRT - Jaime Pressly.

In time to come when all the spoof movie movies get lumped together as the scraping of the bottom of the barrel for parody, it will be a shame for the genuinely funny ones in the bunch, it to be fair is films that would pre-date Date Movie, films such as this teen spoof Not Another Teen Movie.

Not Another Teen Movie parodies unsurprisingly an whole bunch of teen movies particularly the comedies (so I guess it does fall into the trap of spoofing something already funny - but at times at least as a new joke to with it, also it parodies the more earnest scenes of these comedies)

Jake (Chris Evans - doing a better Freddie Prinze Jr. then Prinze Jr.) makes a bet with his friends to turn Janey (Chyler Leigh) into prom queen even though she has glasses, a ponytail and paint covered overalls, so yeah the basis is She's All That with scenes or characters mimicking among other teen movies such as American Pie, Can't Hardly Wait, Cruel Intentions, The Breakfast Club, 10 Things I Hate About You and Bring It On among others, yeah it's noticeable that most of the teen movies are from the 3 or 4 years before

The best characters for me are Mia Kirshner as Catherine, taking off Sarah Michelle Gellar's character in Cruel Intentions as Jake's sister (only by blood), she does still get to be sexy for the most part even when doing ridiculous things (the brother/sister incest thing is tiny bit ironic since Chyler Leigh kissed her real brother on film, since they played love interests in Kickboxing Academy), another enjoyable character was Sam Hungington as Ox (taking off Chris Klein's Oz from American Pie) I just love how he plays the performance

My favourite scenes including Ricky reading 10 Things I Love About Janey in class, the musical number (showing Disaster Movie how a musical number featuring the cast should go) and I like Jake trying to save Janey's brother from bullying.

The films worst scene for me, and is the scene that takes toilet humour literally as the three horny freshman characters spying on a girl on toilet who ends up getting discussing, this is not the worst part but the scene ends with the English teacher among others getting covered in shit, the scene goes on way too long for a pay off that is more disgusting and funny.

Overall, because plenty of the jokes hit the mark and everybody plays their characters so well, the film ends up being so damn enjoyable for me.

79 - Joe Dirt

Connection To THE MASTER OF DISGUISE - Both made by Adam Sandler's production company Happy Madison.

This movie is an absolute classic...

Well not really, but compared to The Master Of Disguise it is, with a likable enough lead (surprising since he's played by David Spade), and Christopher Walken at one point dancing in it.

Most of Joe Dirt's story is told in flashback to a radio DJ (SNL alumni Dennis Miller) in California, where Joe now works as a custodian, the film is basically a story of random events, it's sort of like a white trash Forrest Gump (though it doesn't place him in any point in famous history), even a girl he loves Brandy (Brittany Daniel) that gets away. In recount the story of his journey to the DJ unbeknownst to him he as become an overnight sensation. Among his adventures include getting captured by Buffalo Bob (complete with putting lotion on it's skin) and working at a school as a janitor with a former mob boss (Walken) in the witness protection program.

I did like Spade here, it feels so rare playing somebody who isn't snarky (like 99% of his work), his character here is more good natured and self deprecating (he even jokes temporally that he slept with his sister), while I've said the female lead in some of the comedies with a bit of loser lead are always clearly too good for them I didn't actually feel it so much with Brandy, though my experience of Daniel was Sweet Valley High and a brief arc in Dawson's Creek so maybe I don't feel the same I did for her initially as some other actresses.

In the rest of the cast we have cool smaller role for Walken who is just fun when on screen and Jaime Pressly also pops up as the already mentioned sister, I should mention the cast also features Kid Rock as the films jerk, yeah he's not really much of an actor.

Overall, I'm not going to pretend it's a great film but it has it's moments and is better then Master Of Disguise by miles. Some of the enjoyment though might be on how much you think of Spade.

76 - Can't Hardly Wait

Connection To JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS - where to start the directors/writers Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan as well as the actors Seth Green, Breckin Meyer and Donald Faison, I'll cheat a little bit and go for Elfont and Kaplan rather then any of the actors.

I'll always have a soft spot for teen comedies even though now it's been 12 years since I last could call myself a teen - though I'm probably close to the ages of some of the actors that tend to be cast for teen, maybe even younger in some cases (wasn't Stockard Channing like 60 when she made Grease - I like Stockard Channing I don't know why I am picking on her), every few years or so comes one that I end up really liking such as Clueless, Mean Girls or Easy-A (these are examples and not the complete list)

This is a preface I perhaps I could have put at the beginning of a teen movie I've already covered, but hey ho, and while I don't believe Can't Hardly Wait is a classic of the genre, the film deserves to better known then it is -

The film mostly takes place over 1 night at a party - a very PG-13 party... literally, scenes and characters where cut to to tone it down the characters include crying drunk girl (Jennifer Elise Cox) and Stoned Girl (Amber Benson), who both still can be glimpsed briefly in the final film.

The film is basically about a high school graduation party and it's various misadventures of the characters who attend it, we have Ethan Embry whose liked Jennifer Love Hewitt for years and plans to pour his heart (in a letter) at the party, her very recent ex-boyfriend Peter Facinelli is also at the party and is trying to convince his friends to dump their girlfriends, we have Lauren Ambrose's snarky friend who gets stuck in the bathroom with gangsta wannabe Seth Green (the two used to be friends) and we have geek Charlie Korsmo vowing to get revenge on Facinelli. These are the principal stories but there are lots and lots of characters seen many of them are familiar faces which I'll get to in a bit.

All these characters are enjoyable to see on the screen and particularly in two of the strands go exactly the way you expect but it's not a bad thing at all, among the other actors who pop include Jaime Pressly, Selma Blair, Jason Segel, Freddy Rodriguez, Erik Palladino, Sara Rue, Clea DuVall, Breckin Meyer, Donald Faison, Jenna Elfman, Jerry O'Connell and Melissa Joan Hart, who I like a lot is stuck with one of the weaker minor-subplots of desperately trying to get her yearbook signed, there's also the other minor-subplot of the girls house who is trying to stop is getting wrecked that is also on the weak side.

It occured to me that with Green, Segel and Benson in the cast - that is all her 3 major TV love interests in one film (Kennedy didn't count), besides that Paige Moss appears who in Buffy was the the lead to Green/Hannigan spiting up (Channon Roe, Nicole Bilderback, Clea DuVall and Eric Balfour all have appeared in Buffy too)

Overall very cool teen movie, I actually prefer it to American Pie, which is the year after and ends with a graduation party so there's a link there and would sooner revisit this, I enjoyed many of the characters even those that make fleeting appearances, so I recommend the film.

49 - Tomcats

Connection To CURSED - Shannon Elizabeth.

Misogynistic might be the word to describe this movie, but maybe that word is a touch unfair but it's certainly a film made by men for men and I'm sure if your a man's man you'll find this movie just super...

The story is group of male friends who make a deal to invest in a fund, which would get paid to the last remaining bachelor of the group, cut to somewhere down the line where Jerry O'Connell attempts go get the other remaining bachelor Jake Busey married so he can pay off a gambling debt, he conveniences a policewoman (Shannon Elizabeth) who as some sexual history with Busey, pretty much as expected O'Connell falls for Elizabeth.

All this is just an excuse for a string of scenes involving random situations such as O'Connell getting himself into A BDSM fetish with a quiet librarian and her grandmother and an incident involving Busey's removed testicle (yes really) that ends with the Doctor - played by David Ogden Stiers accidentally biting into at the hospital cafeteria (I must have missed that M*A*S*H episode). Also at least this movie acknowledges that O'Connell and Elizabeth where going to fall for each other so at least the feelings are out there on the screen from the start.

The group of friends have a gay friend, but this didn't stop them having a bit of a homophobic edge also Horatio Sanz is married to Jaime Pressly whose clearly a lesbian and yes it does end in what would be a man's fantasy. Also Jake Busey getting a lot of women can only be because of the wealth his family have, I'd argue there's no reason,  I'm mean he looks like a Busey and he ain't exactly the most charming person in this.

On one last note, I think it's a shame Shannon Elizabeth's career fizzled out somewhere down the line, Hollywood had moved onto the next thing I guess, but she's got a decent enough screen presence in my opinion.

Overall, it's a film for men obsessed with pissing contests, for the sort of man I am everything and everything one in this just felt like a stereotype, but it's not really awful to be fair, it's more harmless and dumb.