Posted on 10/05/2004 12:06:04 PM PDT by NotchJohnson
South Park' Makers: Sex, Puppets and Controversy Try to imagine, if you will, a movie that in its first few minutes offends just about everyone who's watching it. Then you have "Team America: World Police," the new outrageous and controversial new comedy from Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of "South Park." Even as we speak, several prominent Hollywood actors may be calling their lawyers to check on slander laws. GLAAD is certainly drafting a press release condemning the film, and North Korean madman Kim Jong II may have a case as well. I saw this film over the weekend, quite by accident, although it is not nearly ready yet to be seen.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
I thought their first moviw was a riot. Especially the "frog" resistance fighter boy.
cant be anywhere as good as South Park Bigger Uncut
I did a search wityh this title and it didn't come up.
might be over the top funny afterall...
The plot: In short, a CIA-type organization hires a Broadway musical actor to pretend to be an Arab terrorist and infiltrate terrorist organizations. (In the end, the world is safe, the movie claims, thanks to brilliant acting. Ouch.)
"Team America," you see, boldly goes where no one has gone before, sending up post-9/11 terrorism, Arabs, Koreans, the CIA and liberal-minded Hollywood actors all at the same time.
The one group that seems to escape total comic annihilation is the current presidential candidates. And that's just as well.
Still, in the first few minutes, we get Gary, our Broadway star, performing a song called "Everyone Has AIDS" in a musical named "Lease." (That's a parody of "Rent," wink wink.)
When you realize the refrain is "Everyone has AIDS, white folks and also spades," you see the direction we're headed in.
Before long, Gary is recruited by the CIA to join Team America, a sort of "Mission: Impossible" squad designed to thwart terrorists. Gary (who would be played by Keanu Reeves if he weren't a puppet) falls for the female leader of Team America, a saucy blonde.
The two puppets have a wild sex scene set, in the version I saw, to Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" — the love theme of Bruckheimer's "Armageddon" — in which full androgynous plastic nudity is unbound. But so are the lovemakers' positions. It's an astounding use of inanimate objects.
Scene after scene, "Team America" goes over the top. Whether it's language or just simple suggestion of vulgar acts, "Team America" never hesitates to outdo its preceding scene.
I can't repeat all the words to the theme song that spoofs patriotism, "America [Expletive], Yeah!," but you get the gist of it. Needless to say, teenage boys will be enthralled by the endless graphic references to oral sex and the scatological.
But Parker and Stone have also added another element: a team of Hollywood actors who descend on Korea (I think) for a misguided peace conference. The group of air-headed puppets, led by Alec Baldwin, is dubbed the Film Actors Guild (and referred to by its unfortunate acronym).
Among Baldwin's liberal associates are usual suspects Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn, Danny Glover, Janeane Garofalo, George Clooney, Ethan Hawke, Matt Damon and a few who seem like they were thrown in for no reason: Helen Hunt, Samuel L. Jackson and Liv Tyler.
I am told that none of these actors gave permission for their likenesses to be used. Most will not be amused by their depictions.
Baldwin, in particular, comes in for a lot of baiting, as he is often referred to facetiously as "the greatest actor in the world." Luckily, the real Alec has a sense of humor. Hopefully, Sarandon won't mind when she gets her head blown off.
But not just movie stars come in for skewering. The Parker/Stone version of Kim Jong II nearly overtakes the film as the terrorist-hunting switches from the Arab world to Korea. Sort of a Dr. Evil meets Elmer Fudd, this Kim Jong II is easily the film's funniest creation, simply because he is so unlikable in real life.
The movie version is more Looney Tunes than "Fritz the Cat" and that's where "Team America" really succeeds. It also helps that David Rockwell's puppet-sized sets, particularly the Korean palace, are spectacular creations full of surprises and witty sideshows.
There's more and there's Moore in "Team America," including a Michael Moore puppet, a stretch DeLorean, a hollowed-out Mount Rushmore used as the Team America lair, and, of course, more irreverent songs, including one devoted to Bruckheimer director Michael Bay and his godawful blockbuster "Pearl Harbor."
It looks like an R-rated version of "Thunderbirds"!
Sounds good to me!
> These guys are brilliant although I did not like their first movie.
Which first movie?
"South Park: Bigger, longer, Uncut?"
"Baseketball?"
"Orgasmo?"
"Cannibal: The Musical?"
Oh My God Orgasmo was hilarious..... hahahahahahahaha almost forgot about that one.
Oh My God Orgasmo was hilarious..... hahahahahahahaha almost forgot about that one.
"Team America" trailer: http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/team_america/
Look for the Michael Moore puppet near the end.
Biger Longer and Uncut was a bit too different from teh show which I do like. Having a movie that is about those 2 guys on tv (they fart all the time) Sadaam being more evil than satan was great. "Hey, what is this, Detroit?"
if you aren't offended by puppet sex and the eff word, this movie will rock your socks! we even sat all the way through the credits just to hear the songs again, which are hilarious! i am not much of a fan of south park, but this thing was AWESOME! geez, my sides hurt i laughed so much!
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