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Review:Austin Powers, The Spy Who Shagged Me
As with the original, the bad guys steal the show. Every time Dr. Evil's gang of baddies meets up in his hollowed out volcano fortress, get ready to laugh. Scott's charachter is expanded, and given a rival in the form of "Mini-Me", Dr. Evil's clone... 1/8th the size (complete with his own miniature kitty).
Austin is once again the least interesting of the charachters. He repeats many of the original jokes, and throws in a few new zingers that will get ya good. Dr. Evil is a little softer this time around, but still drop dead funny. Mini-Me is absolute genius. Truly offensive, and a total a riot. Almost every gag involving him got a huge laugh from the sold out theater I was in, and usually I was part of it.
And then there is the matter of Heather Graham- ah yes Heather, let me sing your praises. As Felicity Shagwell she performs quite well. With tight outfits and dirty innuendo absolutely perfect for Austin's counterpoint, she scores many points, and usually is the best part of any of the Austin Power scenes. She won't win an acadamy award, but she'll get your Mojo going, and squeeze a lot of laughs out of you.
So anyway, the summary: this is probably the second most hyped film of the season, but its worth the hype. Its not going to change the world, cause world peace, feed the homeless, or preach to you about anything. It will make numerous random low brow jokes about short people, fat people, poop, farting, sex, lesbianism, and involves lots of disobediant children. If you enjoy watching the bad guys sing commercials, and build fortresses with names like "Moon Unit Alpha" and "Moon Unit Zappa", well If thats your bag, you'll enjoy this film baby. If its not, go watch something else and save the bucks.
Austin Powers was better the second time around tho. I'm curious what this one will do for me if I see it again. But this movie is definitely gonna make a lot of money this summer. And it deserves it more than that other summer blockbuster does.
The rocket sighting sequence will go down history as one of the funniest moments in film--on par with the mini Stonehenge descending on the stage in Spinal Tap.
Word is 40% of the film was improvised, and it shows. I for one like the improvisation.
Whats the population of holland... i would have thought any town over 100,000 would have more than a couple of cinemas.
I saw this last night as well and thought it was great. The one thing that bothered me most about it though was the grotesque amounts of strategic product placement. In this movie it got to the point of singing (multiple) corporate jingles and/or slogans. It always annoys me when you can tell the camera-angle shifts so you can see the logo dead-center. I guess hollywood will do anything to make a buck.
I was very dissapointed. I liked the original, but this one was pretty bad. What anoys me most is the how this movie gets good reviews, while TPM gets trashed by reviews. I do not understand.
The Austin Powers publicity people are missing a wonderful ad opportunity ...
The advertisement seemed to blatent to be serious. I saw it more as a parody of movies with more subtle product placement. For example, when Fat Bastard is singing a Chili's commercial, it's just too obvious to be anything but parody.
godfather II? maybe?
I thought the movie was great!
Fat Bastard was a hilarious new villian, Felicity Shagwell was a mega-babe, and although some of the movie references got old after awhile a few were actually really funny.
My favorite is when he tries to stop the rotating chair by screaming "The power of Christ compells you!" over and over again! Hardly anyone got that in the audience (most teens), but I busted up laughing at the Exorcist reference.
I remember the first time I watched Spinal Tap and that Stonehenge scene came. I never laughed so hard in my life.
My second favorite scene was when one of them got caught with a cucumber wrapped in foil at the metal dector...
The movie was junk!
The creators said: What made the firts movie such a money maker? Good humor (which there was in the first)? NAHH!! Prattfalls and sex!
So that's all the second movie was.. Most of the humor was very immature or taken from the first movie.. In short, it sucked.
How about Zappa's other kid?
It was supposed to be out on Friday, June 11, but all Milwaukee area theaters had 9:30 showings of it on Thursday the 10th.
I thought TPM was much better though. The movie was basically a saturday night live show with all the skits on one theme. There really was no fluid flow from one scene to the next. The first had some sense of order and fluidity. Also Austin, in the 60's without his mojo, just wasn't too funny. It was much better when he was out of place in teh 90's. Most of the movie was just references to different culutural aspects, and I think they just played on that tooo much. They didn't even really build on any particular aspect, they just gave one-liners from many different aspects and it sort of got old. Also, there was too little time spent on Austin, although his scenes were much less funnier than Dr. Evil's, the name of the movie is Austin Powers heh! The blatant plugs of various companies got irritating too. I think the AOL and chilijis plug fit in well, but the Virgin Atlantic plug was just plain gay. Also, although Heather Graham is hot as hell, her acting was horrible. She didn't seem to be in the role at all. I think if you watch the movie again (and are not as entranced with her body as you were the first time), it becomes pretty apparent. The foil between the contrasting Elizabeth Hurley and Austin worked *much* bettter. There was tension and comedy. There was no tension or anything in this relationship, Felecity was mroe than willing. No challenge or anything.
It was definetely funny and worth the money, but I don't think it is as good as Rob is portraying it. I definetely don't thikn its like Austin Powers 1, where it can get funnier everytime you watch it. This one is just going to get worse, as the things mentioned above, get much more apparent every time you watch it. The first one also was funnier just on the fact htat it was the first paradoy on all the spy flicks, so the jokes were just better and fresher. Too many AP1 jokes are rehashed in the sequel. Austin shoulda got some new lines in the second one (while maintianing his original ones as well).
Lucas just couldn't have put someone like mini-me in the movie heh. Any comparison is just plain ridiculous. Star Wars isn't a comedy its a psuedo-serious movie. I watched it again, after austin powers, and Jar-Jar really isn't taht bad. Some of the little kids really did like him, and although I didn't find his actions particularly funny, I didn't find them horrificly irritating either. Of course mini-me is definetely the funnier of the two characters, but they just can't be compared because they are developed in two different contexts ! (just like perl! context matters)
there is also another son Ahmet. together they both host the rather funny tv show "Happy Hour". it airs on the usa network at 9pm est saturdays. think of it as being like the american version of a japaneese gameshow, very wacky without hard and fast rules :)
http://www.usanetwork.com/ser ies/happyhour/index.html
Yeah, I noticed that too.
I went and saw austin powers last night and found it very enjoyable, not as good as the original but a very good sqeual, but i have a bitch I dont know if it was just the theater i went to but i paid 8 bucks a ticket and then before the movie started i was greeted with 5 mins of commericals, one for the navy one for creative labs, one for nintendo and a couple others, then had they showed 8 previews, If they are going to show commericals they could at least drop the ticket prices a bit.
It ain't Amsterdam.
At the Cinerama 16-plex (evil Southern California import) here in Seattle, they pipe in pseudo commercial radio 15 minutes before the film, pimping the latest lamo-pop music and other consumer tripe. This is followed by 10 minutes of on screen commercials and then previews.
No repeat business here.
Most of the humor was very immature
Well didn't you kinda expect that?
Amazing how spool & groin jokes are supposed to pass for humor. The audience I saw it with had the same reaction as me, this was one repetetive and boring movie. Mini-me was the only fresh idea and like everything else in this movie was repeated so often it lost any humor it had. How anyone over 8 years old could enjoy this drivel is beyond me.
i haven't even seen it yet, and i'm sorry,
but i was just reading the salon.com write-up,
and started laughing hysterically reading the line about "fat bastard, the pissed off scotsman"
if just reading a (negative) review about the flick is enough to make me laugh, this has got to be a pretty amusing movie.
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-astrix8
javanet.com/~user
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The space needle and starbucks references got :)
a big laugh here in Seattle.
Uh, what profanity? There wasn't a single 'fuck', 'shit' or 'asshole', and certainly nothing cruder than that. Perhaps the innuendo confused you... it did get a PG-13 after all, and they were clearly aiming for that rating.
"And it deserves it more than that other summer blockbuster does." - CmdrTaco
Uh, what colour is the sky on your planet? Taco says right in the review that he clearly *didn't* love TPM.
Geez... so you fully admit that you've been brainwashed into this prudish white-anglo-saxon mindset that some words should be 'taboo'.
Sorry, but most everywhere else in the world, people don't bitch and moan about a few profanities!
Am I the only one that thought this guy was the most repulsive guy ever in a movie. I mean it's one thing to show semen in someone's hair (Something About Mary) but something entirely different to see some nasty fat looking guy who's at deaths door knocking loudly. I don't know about where you guys were but all the scenes with that guy in them were dead silent here.
I saw AP1, it was funny. I saw it the second time, it was VERY funny..i saw it over and over again, and it was hilarious. AP II, is equally hilarious, i see ppl posting shit like "THIS IS A SERIOUS, UPTIGHT, DETAILED,REVIEW OF EVERY ASPECT OF THE AP2 MOVIE"!!! that is really dumb.. wuts the matter with you guys? enjoy the movie!! don't look at the details..AP2 ROCKS!!! I AM GOING TO WATCH AP2 OVER AND OVER AGAIN..HEHE
i counted one or two laughs, but i think it was out of pity for how pathetic everything was.
I think I had read something about her not wanting to be in the second.
Either way, Heather in my opinion did just a good job if not better.
Besides, Hurley is just so me washed up model (joking)
Reel.com has 'SIMAAM' on DVD for 12.49 right now. I have no idea how long it will be at that price though...
That is all we need. Another Leo movie, I hope somebody kicks his wimp butt good someday.
Watch as he steals babies, rapes white women and sleeps in a coconut oil slicked bed full of watermelon seeds.
Watch as he confesses to his inferiority to the male lead, and begs his 'massah' for help
Watch as the female lead kicks him in the nuts and says, 'Thats for calling me a cracker whore, DARK**!'
Hate isnt cool, even if TV and movies keep telling you it is.
Although Hurley maybe better in some respects, Graham does a remarkable job of (stealing quote from review) "getting your mojo going" simply because she is a female version of Austin (and amazingly better looking). Hurley was a good girl, Graham was a bad girl and we all know we like bad girls better :)
Keep your babies away from this guy, folks.
don't forget lil' brother Ahmet Rodin.
Dweezil is a pretty hot guitarist just like his dad.
he's played with interesting people like Donny Osmond
and covered twisted toonz like the BGs *stayin alive*
Also, it spoofed Bond in other ways.
I don't know if he intentionally did it, but the actual James Bond did get married in "Her Majesty's Secret Service" and she ended up getting killed at the end of the movie.
So killing off Hurley was another way of following the pattern.
Plus I tend to agree that Heather Graham is a serious ultra hottie!
-My $.02 borrowed from another sig
Like you wouldn't run screaming for a boycott on a movie that implied Linux was ripped off/dressed-up NT code...
Don't go raggin' on the religious folks for opposing something that is offensive to them.
You mean like those other parts of the world where folks are butchering each other?
Just wanting the world to be a civil place doesn't make a person a prude. Lay off the judgemental attitude and expand your vocabulary.
Civility is the cornerstone of civilization.
We were maiking jokes about the www.zipit.com.org and someone tried it without the org....turns out its a gay dating webpage! Hope that corporate audit thinks it's a Winzip site....
I mean, dude, if you've seen My Favorite Martian there's no way you can call her a great actress. She's a hack. A hack with a good ass, but a hack all the way.
how about Denise Richards? I saw shots of her in the new Bond movie and she was dressed up nearly exactly like Lara :)
The text of Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" is to be found here.
Regards, Ralph.
| Alien 4 was better then Alien 3, that was better :)
| then Alien 2, that was better then the
| original!
Oh come on. _The Blood Waters of Dr. Z_ was a better film than _Alien 3_ (aka Alienses).
_Aliens_ was an inferior film to the original mainly because nearly all the suspense was drained from the film by heavy automatic weapons fire and a really, really annoying kid. All that was left was Scrawny Weaver running around with a machine gun. And don't get me started on the whole dropship sequence!
Just wanted to point out that "Moon Unit Zappa"
was the name of (the late (sniff)) Frank
Zappa's daughter. Somewhere I've got a 45 of
"valley girl" with her picture on the slipcover.
A treasure.
If everyone already knows this, moderate this post
into the basement.
-- cary
2 hour commercial with some sporadic boobage.
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Your honor is perfectly understandishable.
evil dead 2 and army of darkness (evil dead 3). That's a series that got better and better every time they made another movie.
Lucas should have cast Mini-Me instead of Jar Jar... that would have been a riot.
And it deserves it more than that other summer blockbuster does.
Heresy!
This was just an amusing bathroom-humor movie. It was not an epic saga =)
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
Amazon.com? :)
(Is it something in Seattle's water, or is it a coincidence that they spawn huge, monolithic companies?)
Posted by oNZeNeMo (guns'n ammo):
Mini-Me doesn't have a Mini-cat.
Posted by funk311:
i believe the woman you are refering to (that woman from the first movie) is Liz Hurley...
Posted by JudgementX:
WARNING--DISCUSSES SOME PARTS OF MOVIE
Okay first off, I loved Austin Powers and I definetely love the sequel, but one thing that really bothered me was the writing off of Elizabeth Hurley as a fembot and then replacing Austin's counterpoint with Heather Graham. I mean I won't argue the fact that Heather Graham is hot as hell, but Hurley was definetely a better actress and played a better role at countering Austin's lines in the original. I realize that it was supposed to be a funny write-off with Vanessa being a Fembot and it allowed Austin to go back to swinging, but I just wish that they didn't kill Vanessa off. That way she could be in the next Austin Powers because she was one of the best parts of the first one. Part of me was kinda sad when she blew up (literally) after remember how funny and awesome she was in the original... sigh... But I'm sure that everyone just cares that Heather Graham is a hotty...but alas my heart goes out to Elizabeth Hurley who is definetely the more shagadelic babe. Comments anyone?
Are you smoking cra-- oh... nevermind...
:)
I didn't expect it to be that great because I figured they'd just recycle all the same jokes from the last movie, and they did, but it beat my expectations. But still, I thought it was only okay.
I guess his brand of low brow humor just isn't my bag, baby.
Then again Kids in the Hall... now THAT's commedy.
Maybe it's time for a letter-writing campaign. ;-)
Remember that what's inside of you doesn't matter because nobody can see it.
Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal." Certainly gives one food for thought (if you'll forgive the pun).
:)
Now, see? An incomplete B.A. in English Literature IS useful!
"I'd like to make a promise and I'd like to make a vow, that when I've got something to say, sir, I'm gonna say it now
There were funny original scenes, but they were rare.
I for one was quite disappointed.
The new Austin Powers movie is already out or did Rob get a free preview of it or something? I thought it was due out this summer.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer is also a great example of a mediocre (well, bad really) movie turned into a great series.
Again, I think it's the format that makes the difference. You can't tell a great story in 2 hours. Best you can do is hit the highlights to entertain those with attention spans too short to follow a series. No real chance for in depth background or in depth development in a 2 hour movie. Can you imagine the whole B5 storyline compressed into 2 hours? Gimme a break! TV series have to be very badly done to not be better than a movie...
Unfortunately, most TV series are very badly done...
--
"Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
Here is my take on the movie. I went to see it thursday (at a sneak preview where it was showing on more screens than star wars).
Overall the movie was funny. Being as I live in chicago I also have some sort of perverse attachment to Jerry Springer, so the whole springer scene in the beginning and end was excellent. Definately gets you going.
There were some parts that you would rather not have to see, such as the Felicity and Fat Bastard scene.
I would have to agree that Mini-Me was one of the best parts of the movie. What could be cuter than a little midget giving the finger?
But it didn't seem like a movie. Just a conglomeration of skits put together that on their own were hilarious. Worth a viewing once, but I wouldn't say much more than that. I don't think it will have the staying power of other great comedy movies like Ghostbusters and Caddyshack because it dates itself too much to the 90's with the songs and the jokes etc.
My Slashdot account is old enough to drink...
See the Salon article
--which takes an opposite view...that too much time is wasted on Dr. Evil, and not enough on other characters and Powers himself.
Personally, I find Powers, as a caricature, terribly amusing, at a low consumption level. After about five minutes, I find myself wanting to tear my hair out. The problem I had with the first film is that it was like a Saturday Night Live skit that was too long. (A common criticism.) Nevertheless, I find Powers so interesting, I'll probably see the film anyway.
I saw a 4:15 showing of it yesterday, and it was complete with idiots chanting, "yeah baybee" throughout the 6 previews shown, and 11-16 year old kiddies running rampant. The movie itself was cheezy as hell, but it was supposed to be that way. The original, as everyone knows, was a comical parody of 60's spy flicks, and the sequel was obviously based around the same thing.
It amuses me to hear people say that it was unoriginal and predictable. It was SUPPOSED to be all of that. However, at the same time, it was very creatively written and directed. The character acting of Austin Powers and Dr. Evil were excellent, and Felicity Shagwell and Fat Bastard actually had me laughing out loud.
It's simply a great movie. I'd definitely see this movie again before seeing The Phantom Menace again. And no, I'm not smoking crack.
I found it quite comical that the most evil coffee company is also owned by one Dr. Evil. :)
If that were the case, I might have seen TPM a second time. And when I go shopping and see all of those "cute" Jar Jar T-shirts, dolls, and posters with Fat Bastard on there instead of Jar Jar, it would really make my day.
...is the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.
**>>BELCH
It looks like I'm pretty much alone on this one, but I really didn't like AP2 that much. It was about what I had expected, but it just wasn't as enjoyable to me as the first one. It kinda gave me the impression that everybody just got together for a weekend and threw together a movie. I know it's supposed to be like that, but I thought the general style of the first movie was better.
The characters didn't really seem to carry over from the first movie very well either. Dr. Evil seemed way too... competent in this movie, Austin seemed too incompetent, and Felicity doesn't even compare to Vanessa in the first one.
Then there were those other characters... I think Fat Bastard and Mini Me both give Jar Jar some strong competition for "Most Annoying Character of 1999".
Now, before you start flaming me, I just want to make a point... I didn't say I hated the movie. The jokes were wonderful... I think I laughed way more at this movie than I did at AP1 the first time I saw it. But the movie itself just didn't appeal to me... that's why I think the first one was better.
And as an adult movie it was ruined by not being RAW enough.
This is not the sig you are looking for...
I think with the recent pushes from President Clinton and family type organizations to stop kids from viewing violence and sex in movies we'll see more and more movies come out PG-13 that would have been R a couple of years ago. Not because they're any less raunchy, but because right now violence is the current target. I'm kind of surprised that Phantom Menace got the PG rating. A certain Darth Maul scene really did (IMHO) deserve a PG-13 rating, and Lucas must have thought the same thing since he did the scene two different ways (hopefully that was spoiler free enough).
I think it will be interesting to see how Hollywood reacts to the latest attacks on violence from politicians. There are already quite a few studios who demand R ratings, how long will it be before PG-13 is as far as a director can take a movie and still get good funding? Even some of the independent/smaller studios (can we say Mirimax) are shying away from more violent/sexually explicit films. I have a strong stomach for sex and violence (my girlfriend always complains that all of the movies we watch are too dark, hence the occasional Notting Hill), but I fear that some day soon I won't even be able to watch violent art house movies on the big screen anymore.
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. -- Oscar Wilde
Smaller person: "That 'Jar-Jar' character belittles my people"
Larry King: "I think he's an insult to all of us, little man (*snicker*)"
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. -- Oscar Wilde
** MILD SPOILER ALERT **
;)
:) From the 'AOL You Have Mail' Headquarters call in the sports car, Dr. Evil's corperation owning Starbucks coffee, and the clearly shown Virgin superstore.. i was just a little curious...
:)
I loved it! I was quite suprised that the movie only had a PG-13 rating though.. The movie was clearly full of sexual innuendo/content. (of course I LOVED that
My favorite part was Dr. Evil singing his version of 'Just The Two Of Us' , REALLY cool.
I wonder which companies paid for advertising?
Quite a lot of cameo appearences also... my suggestion: go see it right now! (unless your a highly religious nut who hates perversion, in that case avoid it at all costs)
-Cybie! - My cool homepage - My really cool START page
Cybie! aka Ralph Bonnell
I saw it last night too, and I'm going to have to say that I about cried laughing during the Jerry Springer scenes. Seeing Jerry Springer fighting with Dr Evil was too funny. I thought the movie as a whole was very well done. There arent very many movies that I will watch over and over, but I think this one will make that list.
OK, it's not like it would ever win an Oscar, and it would be surprising if it even wound up being a good movie, but Liz Hurley would be a great choice to play Lara Croft. She has the looks, she can act, and she's British. I don't know if she can do running backflips while firing mini-Uzis in each hand, but they could hire a trainer...
All opinions expressed herein are my own, and not those of my employers, who are appalled.
Is it just me, or did Number 2 look like he was laughing his ass off when Dr. Evil was throwing the big globe in his face ?
I agree, the first time I saw "SIMAAM" I was mildly amused, but when HBO and Showtime started running it several times a week, and I saw it more, I laughed more and more each time I saw it. It's not my favorite Mike Meyers movie, hands down.
Mike Meyers as his dad is absolutely hilarious, and the whole bit he does about Colonel Sanders putting a secret ingredient in his extra crispy tasty chicken to make you crave it fortnightly makes me bust up.
When in danger or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout. --Robert A. Heinlein
I took a break from my busy summer star wars viewing schedule to see this one. I guess it was worth it (Heather Graham definitely was fun to watch, but she's no Natalie Portman :P)
But anyway, I think that has been the only non-star wars movie i'll have seen this summer. because star wars ruled! I recommend you all go see it again. Those of you who hated it..... I was really unimpressed with it my first time. But the second time was better. And now that i've seen it six times, I want to see it more and more and more... besides, we can't let titanic win!
do your moral duty. see austin powers once, it's worth it. but see star wars many, many times... it's worth it even more...
Don't forget, he also played the role of Fat Bastard, which was funny as all hell as well!
--
I've heard alot of posts on hear about AP complaining that the repeated jokes were bad. I thought it was pretty hysterical! I don't think they were expecting you to think they were funny for the same reason you did in the first movie, I think they wanted you to think they were funny just because they were being done again!
The "Zip It" scene was pretty damn funny IMHO
--
I totally argee. The need to redo jokes from the first wasn't needed, but the orginal ones that are in AP2 are good enough on their own merit. I wasn't disappointed with it, but IMO it wasn't as good as the first. Austin Powers (the character) was just better in the first. I guess it's just because Austin Powers in his own environment is just like everyone else, but in the 90s he was a sight to behold.
-Tom
Could someone please tell Rob that it's Mike Myers? I mean, I hate to be "that guy" who nitpicks, but a journalist of Rob's caliber surely won't mind getting the little details right.
bAz
I have to agree. SIMAAM is a hilarious movie. One of my all time favorites.
"HEED...Pants" You gotta love when he plays his dad. "Probably going to cry himself to sleep on his HUGE pilla"
MG
I thought the movie was one of the funniest I have ever seen. It may have just been the laughing mood I was in, but I cracked up at nearly everything. There are so many small little Simpson-eque type jokes thrown in throughout the movie that you only really appreciate the second time you see it.
But, they missed a HUGE joke, which I was waiting for the entire "Shuttle" scene. I would think since the movie is all about England they would have gotten this, but why wasn't there a SHUTTLECOCK joke?
It kind of made me mad they didn't have one, but oh well. The movie was great and I highly reccomend it if you are in a jovial mood at the time.
"A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep." --Saul Belloe
There are three ports on their space suits, labelled:
H2O, O2 (two's subscripted)
and
P2 (two superscripted)
Water, Oxygen, and pee-pee. I figured this out in the middle of another gag and just about lost it.
-josh
Yep... I think I was the only one in the theater where I saw it who not only has seen the Flint films... but knew that the joke was a reference to reality and not something made up.
:)
Coburn rocked in those films!
- My favorite error message: xscreensaver, running on an old Sparc 5 w/ 8bit color: bsod: Couldn't allocate color Blue
Most movies end up doing this. But most try and lessen the impact of it. But I think the whole idea was to make fun of the sponsorship.
Having Dr. Evil own Starbucks is damned funny, and if made more money for the movie, all the better.
- Paradox
Slashdot. It's Not For Common Sense
My wife and I went to see it friday night. We never made it into the film. A line of 14 - 16 year olds were waiting to get into the theatre in full 60's sytle dress. It was pretty "cute" seein g them all dressed up in what looked like their parents old wardrobes; however, my wife and I really wanted to see the new AP2 movie.
Microsoft aggravates my tourettes syndrome.
Austin Powers is a clever spoof on Bondish movies that seem to come out every year. Austin Powers is funny. Austin Powers is lowbrow, slapstick, and sometimes, witty to the point of genius.
Austin Powers is not meant to have any kind of engaging plot. Austin Powers does not care that Austin Powers is not meant to have any kind of engaging plot, and the makers make no attempt to hide this fact. Some movies will go to great lengths to try to fill holes in the plot, at the expense of hokiness. Austin Powers basically tells the audience point blank that it doesn't care. At all. It's that scene when Austin is going back in time and gets confused by the paradoxes that arise. He - and the audience - are told, and I quote, "enjoy the ride".
If you laughed more in this than the first, great! I did. I can't imagine why else anyone would want to see it if not to laugh.
Just my $0.000000002
Vidi, Vici, Veni
The thing that really annoyed me was how moronic the majority of the audience were. Did they not watch the credits of AP? Did they not think "gee, maybe they'll do the same thing?" I guess not. Everyone else stood up as soon as the credits started rolling and made like lemmings to the exits. The first bits of extra footage stopped them in their tracks, but they didn't bother to sit down. Idiots. So that ends, they start moving to the exit again. "Duh, that must be it, even though the text has moved over to the other side of the screen". Idiots, they actually seemed surprised when the second bit started. By the time all the credits had rolled by, there were 6 people left in the theatre, 4 of whom actually saw the last bit (the other two were making out in the back row).
Ob Spoiler: "I've made a makeshift splint. Here goes nothing. ... Augh!"
As a matter of fact there were 5 asses (1 used as "a-hole"), 4 damns, 4 craps, 2 uses of "bugger," 2 hells, 1 incomplete "What the..." (from Scr eenIt)
Actually, I personally thought she was pretty painful to watch. Kinda had a "Why am I saying these lines?" attitude. She didn't seem to get into the same spirit that the woman from the first movie did, even if she was a Fembot.
For those unfortunet saps that didn't wait what happed at the very end?
Do you changes clothes while making the "chee-chee-cha-cha-choh" transformation sound?
I saw this last night too, in the middle of hick ville, but I do agree it was alot better than the first. The only problems I saw were the couple of jokes that were re-used, but they were still funny or more than the first, and the blantant advertisement that was in the movie. But there are som neat tech toys they show off that I think the average geek would love to get their hands on to.
I ate my tag line.
I ate my tag line.
-=Ellis (D)25=-
I saw the the 3 other scenes durring the credits, but I didn't get to see the rest.. Had to get my ass out of there.
I ate my tag line.
I ate my tag line.
-=Ellis (D)25=-
Totally agree. Evil Dead was just a crappy horror movie that looked funny, whereas the two sequels were supposed to be horror comedies and achieved their goals
Dan. -- So what if it's spelt wrong, nobody's perfect
Maybe at first, I think this was done to death. I mean, to repeat the joke a second time was kind of flogging a dead horse.
Otherwise I enjoyed it. Jerry Springer bit -- hilarious.
I too was not really impressed with the first Austin Powers movie the first time I saw it. But the more I watched it the funnier it got, I worked at a theater at the time so I watched it a lot. I still haven't decided which one I like better yet, Scott and Mini-me made this one great. And regarding Heather Graham,... ahhhhhhhhhhhhh
I almost threw up when they did that Heinnekhen ad... I could deal with the Virgin Atlantic banner, and even the Starbucks thing was ok because at least that was part of a joke... you know "Ha ha, they own part of starbucks, starbucks is evil." but the beer thing was just terrible. Just a flat out ad.
--
RumorsDaily
I saw an interview with Meyers on E! (that great cultural train wreck) the day before the movie opened, and he basically said that he just gets the jingles in his head, and when he can't get them out, it just strikes him as really funny. For my part, I now might actually enjoy those stupid Chili's commercials!
49 20 68 61 76 65 20 74 6F 6F 20 6D 75 63 68 20 66 72 65 65 20 74 69 6D 65 2E
Anyone catch the "In Like Flint" scene in the very beginning? I found that to be hilarious, seeing as the Flint movies (were the two or three?) were some of the first movies to spoof the spy genre.
Great movie overall, even the recycled jokes were still funny.
--FroBugg
Did every one catch the mac G3 (iMac too?) keyboard that was sitting next to the "time machine"? I especially ejoyed all the product sponsorships that had no point other than shameless advertising, and Mustafa's return.
Anybody who enjoyed the first movie will get a belly full of laughs out of this one. Mind you you have to wait a bit until they are done rehashing the old bits from the first movie. The new material was right on track and in most cases much funnier than the original.
Scott Evil (the funniest and most under-valued character in the films) is a rebellious teen, right? We find that he is the love child of Dr. Evil and Frau Farbissina, conceived during a mojo-fueled session of passionate sex in 1969. Wouldn't that make Scott close to 30 years old in 1999? Time travel's a bitch, I suppose.
TheZork
(who can proudly assert that he has never - not even in front of a mirror at home - done an Austin Powers impression)
Mike Meyers makes a comment about the Peeing scene in the original Austin Powers (DVD Commentary) that he loves taking a mildly amusing joke and stretching it out until it is stupid, and then stretching it out even longer until it becomes hilarious.
The "That looks like a..." joke is a perfect example of how funny this can be, I think.
Did anyone else wait til the end of the Credits and see the Easter Egg?
Now THAT was hilarious.
Do you Gentoo!?
I really dug the movie, both of them. Where I used to work my co-workers and I would quote the movie quite often ("there really is nothing like a freshly shorn scrotum...") and I have always thought it was hillarious. I even dug Axe Murderer (Nancy Travis.... mmmmmm - Myers gets all the good babes!). I got tired of WW2 thanks to HBO as is always the case but WW is hillarious to this day.
I really liked the opening sequence and was glad that the rehashed choreographed scenes from the first movie were kept to a minimum, plus I really liked what they did with it this time around with the tent scene. I think I was crying there for a bit it was so funny. I agree with Rob in that Mini-Me was great as was Scott Evil. Dr. Evil was pretty good as well although not quite as funny as the first time 'round. I won't even go into Heather Graham... but I agree with everyone else! Even though Liz Hurly is the better choice IMHO.
The scene with Mustafa was classic Mike Myers, and Fat Bastard was a riot. All of this and the word plays, penis synonym sequences, and just the saying, "I am a sexy bitch!" really made this movie a blast to watch. I may have to see this one again before it leaves the theater.
/Sig/
But it didn't seem like a movie. Just a conglomeration of skits put
together that on their own were hilarious.
This is exactly what Myers movies are about... actually, your
comment above is almost exactly what I heard someone say about Wayne's
World... and that really is a great movie... (if you like that sort
of humor...) I think that Myers has a knack for turning sketch
comedy into movies, which is a real talent..
Just my 2c
I haven't seen the movie yet, I may not, I don't know. I just bought a DVD player yesterday and I'll probably be spending much of my time watching all of my favourite movies on that great invention (I saw Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas last night and again today and it's just so much better on this format). I bought A Fish Called Wanda when I bought it too. I like the "fishtank" mode :-)*
Point? Yeah, my point. Just a little tiny point. Garth was not "created" by Myers. He is based on Dana Carvey's brother, Brad, who, interestingly enough, was one of the creators of the Video Toaster. Notice in WW2 the scene where Garth wears a Video Toaster shirt.
Just thought I'd bring that little nitpick up, even if it's a little offtopic.
Ok, ok, to bring it more ontopic:
I was very disturbed by the way the commercials decided to hang off the Phantom Menace hype in the commercials. I wasn't very impressed.
I give WW2 a two thumbs up.
;)
:)
As I write the software for our Inflight Entertainment system, I get to see certain movies a LOT of times. It seems by the end of a project I've seen them a thousand times. Especially the beginning parts, before the system crashes.
One of the movies I must have seen most is Waynes World II. And I have to say that it still doesn't bother me to see it again. There are so many little jokes that you don't notice the first time around. (Especially when you are not a native-English speaking person)
If someone mentions Illinois, the following dialog is automatically triggered in my head:
'MM: Ok. Allright, so here we are in our new surroundings. The abandoned acme doll factory, downtown Aurora, Illinois. DC: We now have an official babe-layer. MM: I know man, this place is gonna be chick-central. etc.'
I look forward to use Austin Powers when I'm testing our new system.
Breace.
No, i have to say, i liked it as PG-13. While, i doubt anything would've offended me if it were rated R, it's just so much fun for them to play with the audience. I mean, a great deal of the humor just wouldn't have been there if they were allowed to show everything and say anything. Dancing around the subject is funny, because when you finally do hit the audience with something, it's much more effective.
;-D
Half of the fun was avoiding the subject.
-Ben C.
p.s. I have to say, i liked this one better than the first, but i do have to go back and see the first again.
p.p.s. I got to see it on the 10th @ 9:50PM!
Oh Man! I totally forgot about that essay. It wasn't history, but fiction.
Who wrote that? I remember it well, but I can't remember who wrote it. It was a satirical piece about how the Scottish could raise money by breeding and selling their kids for food/hides.
Linux - Because Mommy taught me to Share.
I thought the movie was good, but there were problems. I loved a lot of the original jokes, but the COMMERCIALS gave away too many of them. Most of what the commercials didn't give away was stuff from the first movie.
I thought a lot of the "dated" jokes were funny, but they might hurt the movie's rewatchability in the long run. The movie was definitely entertaining and worth the money to go see if you enjoyed the first one. I just wish the commercials hadn't given so much away. I plan on seeing it again.
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It is possible for your mind to be so open that your brain falls out.
what more can a girl say? there aren't many men with such atrocious mysogynist recycled lines and ridiculous teeth that'll have a cynical sex kitten on her back on the shagpile in seconds. austin rocks! myers is hilarious in both roles although my personal favourite has to be Dr Evil.
the new film is really a piece of shite but then you're going for frivolous entertainment not earth shattering commentary.
send up in style.
BLAMMO shaken not stirred
NullGrey is correct: Meyer's grows on you! (At least on me.) Wayne's World never did much for me, but So I Married An Axe Murderer is sheer genius. It took a full watching to convince myself of that, so I would advocate anyone doubtful of its worth simply give it the 93-or-whatever minutes and then decide.
...
Hah! I never thought I would get a legitiamte chance to praise SIMAAM on slashdot. Oh but since I can, finally
I borrowed this video from my co-worker, after I mentioned that I really liked Austin Powers.
I was reluctant to take it, though, because as I told him, I've seen the cover of the video a million times and it just looked awful. Maybe I only saw it previous to Austin Powers and hadn't associated MIke Myers with making me pee from laughing yet, since I wasn't a big SNL fan.
Result? I've had it for months and watched it many times. Will my coworker ever get it back? When I buy the DVD he will.
I mentioned this to a few friends, including my friend Liz Klodginski, in an attempt to turn her on to this incredible movie. To my surprize, someone had already beaten me to it, and made her watch it over her objections -- good move! It's the sort of thing that it takes someone else to convince you, and then BOOM.
Mike Myers' facial expressions are so funny the movie would be funny even without sound.
ok, ok, ok
timothy
jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
I enjoyed the film to, and I must agree that they incoporated a lot of wit into it....
My favorite part of the movie would have to be the part where Felicity and Austin entertain themselves by "harrassing" (by way of kissing, changing his clothes, teasing him) the Royal Guard.
Furthermore, I would like to express my disappointment at the heightened use of profanity in this movie. I don't recall it being used in the first one (though it may have been there, I can't recall), but it's everywhere in this one. I don't mean to be a stuffie or a narrow-minded, idealistic naivette, but I don't enjoy profanity, though I realize that virtually 99.99999% of movies these days use it, as well as good portions of the population... Nevertheless, it's my firm conviction that life can continue without it, although it makes for an expressive flavoring particle!
Insert mind here.
Just sharing:
The first time I saw Austin Powers (original) I thought it was good and fun, but not hillarious. The 2nd time I saw it, it got a little funnier, and the thrid time, it was even more. It really is true, as CmdrTaco says, that it grows on you.
(I haven't seen the 2nd but I will soon.)
So... If you've only seen the original once and didn't like it too much, SEE IT AGAIN!!! and again. and again. It'll get better every time.
...Axe Murderer and WW2 were each mediocre IMHO...
"So I Married an Axe Murderer" was the same for me as "Austin Powers" was for Rob. The first time I saw it, it was mildly amusing, and then it got funnier and funnier each time I watched it. It was one of my favorite movies in college, and there was a week where my dorm neighbor watched it once a day. Maybe most of Meyer's humor is like this: Amusing the first time, funny the second, and hilarious the third.
+--
Given infinite time, 100 monkeys could type out the complete works of Shakespeare.
+-- (Score:-1, Moderator on Power Trip)
I dig this flick, it's to Austin Powers 1 what Wayne's World 2 was to Wayne's World. And did anyone else catch the reference to the old SNL sketch with Martin Short (I think) where they were doing the synchronized swimming? In the sketch, Martin Short and some other guy were practicing to become the first men's synchronized swimmers or something like that, and one of the moves that they do in the sketch Austin does in his opening water scene.
very witty scenes describing Dr Evil's choice of rocketship design...
Dan
Stars collide, worlds survive for a pretty piece of flesh.
My main problem with Austin Powers II was that it just used many of the jokes from the first one, blatantly spoofing itself.
:)
Now, a LOT of comedy sequels do this. Austin II actually did a good job of it. The jokes got a good reaction the first time around, and they got a good reaction the second time around too. But for me, the jokes in the first movie elicited laughs and knee-slapping, and the same jokes in the second elicited a smile and a nod at the references. It's almost like they said, "We know it's still funny, so here it is again!
Even one of the new jokes, the clipped penis references when looking up at the spaceship in the sky, was "sequeled" so to speak. The first time they had the sequence, it was hilarious. The second time, twenty minutes later, it got a lot less open laughter.
On the upside, there were two aspects that really stood out and made this movie worth seeing. The first was Scott Evil. Seth Green is one of the most talented and hard-working young actors out there, and the chemistry between him and Mike Meyers is golden. I laughed straight through the Jerry Springer bit at the beginning. The second shining beacon of light was Mini Me. Mike Meyers knows how to create characters. Wayne, Garth, Dr. Evil, Austin Powers...and now Mini Me. Even if he's not playing them, his interaction with characters he thought up is nearly flawless. I'm an avid fan of professional wrestling, and the fight scene with Austin and Mini Me gave away Verne Troyer (Mini Me) as someone with definite training in the squared circle. Midget wrestlers--seemingly by convention--are always masked, so now I'm wondering which one(s) he has been.
I imagine that if you haven't seen the original, Austin Powers II would be just as funny for you as the first one was for the rest of us. And for the rest of us who have seen it, it's just a notch or two below. But not by much
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I think holland does prety good with the 2. Btw CMDRtaco if you read this, the theater that austin powers 2 played in, in the Holland 7, wasnt all that bad. They are planing to make them all like that. I dont know why the star dosnt pull in more movies.
Get me out of this town PLEASE -ductman
you were warned not to think about things like that!
nobody
parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus
good but not that good
I really really don't get it, a lot of you people on /. must have some pent up angst from window bsod's or end users. Austin Powers 1 and 2 were ... need I remind of scenes like in the Tent ?? Fat Bastard describing is urgent need to **** and eat mini-me (the scottish-english baby eating was a funny joke too, if you don't get it check your History notes) Jerry Springer ??? The Rocket Discoveries ??
damn funny movies, and TPM was a good star wars movie. You people need to just let things go and get immature for 2 hours, I nearly died laughing out loud in the theatre
Yes, the movie was immature, rude, skittish, but hell, what DO you expect ? Its a Mike Myers film, so pull that pickle out of your ass and have a good time!