"Animal House" was the first movie ever created under the name of National Lampoon. It made the humor magazine a household name, but not everybody on the staff was interested in venturing into the movie business. In fact, some of the writers and editors at the magazine felt that the film brought on an unwelcome shift that would eventually render them obsolete.
The film arrived in 1978, eight years after National Lampoon was founded, and achieved instant success. The magazine went on to attach its name to a number of other films, including 1983's "Vacation," which was so popular it exploded into its own movie franchise.
The success of "Animal House" brought a lot of new readers to the magazine, and it also brought a lot of the magazine's writers into the entertainment business. One of the magazine's founders, Henry Beard, had warned the staff against going into film and television before he moved on.
The film arrived in 1978, eight years after National Lampoon was founded, and achieved instant success. The magazine went on to attach its name to a number of other films, including 1983's "Vacation," which was so popular it exploded into its own movie franchise.
The success of "Animal House" brought a lot of new readers to the magazine, and it also brought a lot of the magazine's writers into the entertainment business. One of the magazine's founders, Henry Beard, had warned the staff against going into film and television before he moved on.
- 2/13/2023
- by Shae Sennett
- Slash Film
Having initially established itself as a power-house of binge TV, in more recent years Netflix has turned its attention to movies.
But with dozens of Netflix original films to chose from, how to sort the gold from the feature-length dross?
To help you make sense of the service’s mind-boggling viewing options here’s a countdown of the best original movies available to stream on Netflix UK.
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If you are looking for a streaming platform alternative, you can access unlimited movies and TV shows on Amazon Prime Video. Click here to sign up for a 30-day free trial.
50. Rebecca
The ultimate hate-watch or game attempt at reinventing a classic thriller? Opinions are divided on Ben Wheatley’s adaptation of the Daphne du Maurier novel already immortalised by Hitchcock. Lily James...
But with dozens of Netflix original films to chose from, how to sort the gold from the feature-length dross?
To help you make sense of the service’s mind-boggling viewing options here’s a countdown of the best original movies available to stream on Netflix UK.
We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content.
If you are looking for a streaming platform alternative, you can access unlimited movies and TV shows on Amazon Prime Video. Click here to sign up for a 30-day free trial.
50. Rebecca
The ultimate hate-watch or game attempt at reinventing a classic thriller? Opinions are divided on Ben Wheatley’s adaptation of the Daphne du Maurier novel already immortalised by Hitchcock. Lily James...
- 2/27/2022
- by Ed Power
- The Independent - Film
The Netflix film A Futile and Stupid Gesture tells the story of National Lampoon founder Doug Kenney (Will Forte). When he is at Harvard with Henry Beard (Domhnall Gleeson), they start a food fight. It’s easy to observe the food fight is a motif that would inspire the later National Lampoon film Animal House. The film’s screenwriters confirmed food fights were a regular event with Kenney. “We knew when we wanted to show the scenes of college at Harvard that it was a fun way to start it with a food fight,” Michael Colton said. “In the book, that was...read more...
- 2/10/2018
- by Fred Topel
- Monsters and Critics
Neither a pun-based title or hagiography, A Futile and Stupid Gesture follows the caustic rise of National Lampoon from Harvard to newspaper stands to radio, TV, and film. Henry Beard (Domhnall Gleeson) and Douglas Kenney (Will Forte) nurtured a new generation of comedians who found their way to Saturday Night Live, including Michael O’Donoghue (Thomas Lennon), the show’s first head writer. The Lampoon’s shenanigans were bankrolled by Matty Simmons (Matt Walsh), the American entrepreneur behind Weight Watchers.
We spoke Lennon and Walsh during this year’s Sundance Film Festival where the film debuted. The actors talk about competition between their comedy groups (Lennon was in The State and Walsh in the Upright Citizens Brigade), Walsh’s SAG awards speech for Veep and capturing the essence of O’Donoghue and Simmons.
For a majority of the conversation, the pair tackle National Lampoon’s un-p.C. humor and why...
We spoke Lennon and Walsh during this year’s Sundance Film Festival where the film debuted. The actors talk about competition between their comedy groups (Lennon was in The State and Walsh in the Upright Citizens Brigade), Walsh’s SAG awards speech for Veep and capturing the essence of O’Donoghue and Simmons.
For a majority of the conversation, the pair tackle National Lampoon’s un-p.C. humor and why...
- 2/1/2018
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Right before production kicks off, Martin McDonagh‘s highly anticipated Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri has improved a remarkably impressive ensemble. The Wrap report on the additions of Peter Dinklage, John Hawkes, and Manchester By the Sea‘s Lucas Hedges, who are to play, in order: a man fancying the picture’s lead (Frances McDormand); said lead’s ex-husband; and said lead’s son.
As previously reported, Three Billboards concerns “a 50-year-old woman whose daughter is murdered and she goes to war with the police in her home town, because she thinks they are more interested in torturing black people than getting justice.” Revealed in the newest update is a bit more about the plot: to shame Ebbing’s police, she “pays for three local billboards lambasting law enforcement officials and goading them into action.” Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell portray the sheriff and “hot-headed protégé,” respectively, while Caleb Landry Jones...
As previously reported, Three Billboards concerns “a 50-year-old woman whose daughter is murdered and she goes to war with the police in her home town, because she thinks they are more interested in torturing black people than getting justice.” Revealed in the newest update is a bit more about the plot: to shame Ebbing’s police, she “pays for three local billboards lambasting law enforcement officials and goading them into action.” Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell portray the sheriff and “hot-headed protégé,” respectively, while Caleb Landry Jones...
- 4/11/2016
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
"Broad City" actor John Gemberling is set to portray legendary comedian John Belushi in Netflix's original movie "A Futile & Stupid Gesture" which tells the tragic story of National Lampoon co-founder Doug Kenney.
Will Forte is set to play Kenney, Domhnall Gleeson is co-founder Henry Beard, and Joel McHale will co-star as Chevy Chase in the film about Kenney who helped create the popular humor magazine and co-wrote comedy classics "Caddyshack" and "Animal House".
Kenney wound up struggling with drug and alcohol abuse before falling off a cliff in Hawaii under mysterious circumstances. David Wain ("Wet Hot American Summer") helms from a script by Michael Colton and John Aboud, based on the book by Josh Karp.
Peter Principato and Jonathan Stern are producing and filming begins later this month.
Source: The Wrap...
Will Forte is set to play Kenney, Domhnall Gleeson is co-founder Henry Beard, and Joel McHale will co-star as Chevy Chase in the film about Kenney who helped create the popular humor magazine and co-wrote comedy classics "Caddyshack" and "Animal House".
Kenney wound up struggling with drug and alcohol abuse before falling off a cliff in Hawaii under mysterious circumstances. David Wain ("Wet Hot American Summer") helms from a script by Michael Colton and John Aboud, based on the book by Josh Karp.
Peter Principato and Jonathan Stern are producing and filming begins later this month.
Source: The Wrap...
- 4/6/2016
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
“Broad City” actor John Gemberling is set to portray John Belushi in Netflix’s original movie “A Futile & Stupid Gesture,” which tells the tragic story of National Lampoon co-founder Doug Kenney, TheWrap has exclusively learned. Will Forte is set to play Kenney, while Domhnall Gleeson will play his co-founder Henry Beard. Joel McHale will co-star as his “Community” co-star Chevy Chase. David Wain (“Wet Hot American Summer”) is directing from a script by Michael Colton and John Aboud, based on the book by Josh Karp. Also Read: 'Last Man on Earth's' Will Forte Reveals Why That 'Dumb-Looking' Beard Is Back for Season.
- 4/5/2016
- by Jeff Sneider
- The Wrap
Mere hours after Domnhall Gleeson enlisted for Netflix’s original drama, The Hollywood Reporter brings word that Joel McHale has been added to National Lampoon origins movie A Futile and Stupid Gesture as Chevy Chase.
It’s a casting coup that’s enough to send Troy and Abed into a tizzy, now that McHale has been set to portray his former Community co-star. Centering on National Lampoon co-founder Douglas Kenney (Will Forte), the feature film will chart the magazine’s meteoric rise to prominence in the early 70s when it became a comedic mainstay. Then, Kenney and Henry Beard (Gleeson) formed a creative team with fellow Harvard student Robert Hoffman, working on the likes of Caddyshack and Animal House in the years that followed.
But when Kenney uprooted to move to Hollywood, the success story was blighted by tragedy, after the creator succumbed to crippling depression. Soon thereafter, he was...
It’s a casting coup that’s enough to send Troy and Abed into a tizzy, now that McHale has been set to portray his former Community co-star. Centering on National Lampoon co-founder Douglas Kenney (Will Forte), the feature film will chart the magazine’s meteoric rise to prominence in the early 70s when it became a comedic mainstay. Then, Kenney and Henry Beard (Gleeson) formed a creative team with fellow Harvard student Robert Hoffman, working on the likes of Caddyshack and Animal House in the years that followed.
But when Kenney uprooted to move to Hollywood, the success story was blighted by tragedy, after the creator succumbed to crippling depression. Soon thereafter, he was...
- 4/5/2016
- by Michael Briers
- We Got This Covered
Netflix is making a film called A Futile and Stupid Gesture that's about the origins of National Lampoon, and THR reports that Joel McHale has been hired to play Chevy Chase. This should be especially interesting to those who watched Community, NBC's comedy series on which McHale co-starred with Chase. Over the years, McHale hasn't been afraid to riff about Chase's dickish actions and gruff personality, but it seems like his own acerbic wit and penchant for sarcastic delivery was probably influenced by Chase's early career, so there's a nice ironic touch to this casting.
A Futile and Stupid Gesture stars Will Forte as National Lampoon co-founder Douglas Kenney and Domhnall Gleeson as co-founder Henry Beard, and it's being directed by Wet Hot American Summer's David Wain.
Kenney was the editor of the Harvard Lampoon when he met Henry Beard and Robert Hoffman, which, soon after graduation, resulted in the creation of National Lampoon,...
A Futile and Stupid Gesture stars Will Forte as National Lampoon co-founder Douglas Kenney and Domhnall Gleeson as co-founder Henry Beard, and it's being directed by Wet Hot American Summer's David Wain.
Kenney was the editor of the Harvard Lampoon when he met Henry Beard and Robert Hoffman, which, soon after graduation, resulted in the creation of National Lampoon,...
- 4/5/2016
- by Ben Pearson
- GeekTyrant
Joel McHale is in final negotiations to portray Chevy Chase, with whom he starred in NBC’s Community, in Netflix’s tragic story of National Lampoon co-founder Douglas Kenney, A Futile and Stupid Gesture, Will Forte is starring as Kenney with Domnhall Gleeson as fellow co-founder Henry Beard in the feature being directed by David Wain, the co-creator of Wet Hot American Summer. Kenney was the editor of the Harvard Lampoon when he met Henry Beard and Robert Hoffman, which, soon after graduation, resulted in the creation of National Lampoon, the humor magazine that became a major force
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read more...
- 4/5/2016
- by Borys Kit
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Joel McHale has signed on to play legendary comedian and his former "Community" co-star Chevy Chase in the Netflix original film "A Futile and Stupid Gesture".
The David Wain-helmed biopic follows National Lampoon co-founders Douglas Kenney (Will Forte) and Henry Beard (Domhnall Gleeson) and how they turned their humor magazine into a major force and brand in 1970s comedy.
Chase was a close friend of Kenney and also starred in the Kenney-penned "Caddyshack" and Nl's "Vacation" franchise. Chase was with Kenney in Hawaii prior to his death in Hawaii. The $15-20 million film aims to begin shooting later this month. Peter Principato and Jonathan Stern are producing.
Source: THR...
The David Wain-helmed biopic follows National Lampoon co-founders Douglas Kenney (Will Forte) and Henry Beard (Domhnall Gleeson) and how they turned their humor magazine into a major force and brand in 1970s comedy.
Chase was a close friend of Kenney and also starred in the Kenney-penned "Caddyshack" and Nl's "Vacation" franchise. Chase was with Kenney in Hawaii prior to his death in Hawaii. The $15-20 million film aims to begin shooting later this month. Peter Principato and Jonathan Stern are producing.
Source: THR...
- 4/5/2016
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Getting ahead in Hollywood requires extreme diligence and the willingness to break new ground with the roles one takes. Few actors seem to understand that better that Domhnall Gleeson. Over the last year, the actor has appeared in numerous Hollywood films, including Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Despite his busy schedule with the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VIII, it now seems that the young actor has signed on for a major part in an upcoming Netflix biopic about the founding of iconic humor magazine National Lampoon. A new report from THR indicates that Gleeson has joined the project, titled A Futile and Stupid Gesture. The film . directed by Wet Hot American Summer's David Wain . will follow the dark story of Doug Kenney, who founded the legendary humor magazine with Henry Beard and Robert Hoffman shortly before his mysterious death in the 1980. Saturday Night Live alum Will Forte has already...
- 4/5/2016
- cinemablend.com
Irish actor Domhnall Gleeson, best known for roles in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Alex Garland’s Ex Machina, has closed a deal to star opposite Will Forte in Netflix’s National Lampoon movie, A Futile and Stupid Gesture.
Per Deadline, it’s understood that Gleeson will assume the role of Henry Beard, who co-founded the esteemed humor magazine with Doug Kenney (Forte), before going on to hatch the likes of Caddyshack and Animal House. Set to be based on Josh Karp’s novel of the same name, A Futile and Stupid Gesture may have its roots in comedy, but Netflix’s drama will ultimately be a tragic one, charting Doug Kenney’s spiral into depression, leading to an untimely death at 33 years young.
Directed by David Wain (Wet Hot American Summer), the context for A Futile and Stupid Gesture outlines Kenny’s tragedy as so:
The negative reviews...
Per Deadline, it’s understood that Gleeson will assume the role of Henry Beard, who co-founded the esteemed humor magazine with Doug Kenney (Forte), before going on to hatch the likes of Caddyshack and Animal House. Set to be based on Josh Karp’s novel of the same name, A Futile and Stupid Gesture may have its roots in comedy, but Netflix’s drama will ultimately be a tragic one, charting Doug Kenney’s spiral into depression, leading to an untimely death at 33 years young.
Directed by David Wain (Wet Hot American Summer), the context for A Futile and Stupid Gesture outlines Kenny’s tragedy as so:
The negative reviews...
- 4/5/2016
- by Michael Briers
- We Got This Covered
"Ex Machina," "The Revenant" and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" actor Domhnall Gleeson is closing a deal to join Will Forte in Netflix's original film "A Futile And Stupid Gesture".
The drama/comedy follows the guys who founded National Lampoon magazine and turned it into a comic force that hatched talents such as John Hughes and John Belushi along with iconic movies like "Animal House" and "Caddyshack".
Forte will play Doug Kenney, and Gleeson will play Henry Beard, the pair forming the comedy magazine with Robert Hoffman. David Wain is directing from a script by Michael Colton and John Aboud. Peter Principato and Jonathan Stern are producing.
Source: Deadline...
The drama/comedy follows the guys who founded National Lampoon magazine and turned it into a comic force that hatched talents such as John Hughes and John Belushi along with iconic movies like "Animal House" and "Caddyshack".
Forte will play Doug Kenney, and Gleeson will play Henry Beard, the pair forming the comedy magazine with Robert Hoffman. David Wain is directing from a script by Michael Colton and John Aboud. Peter Principato and Jonathan Stern are producing.
Source: Deadline...
- 4/5/2016
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Exclusive: Domhnall Gleeson is making a deal to join Will Forte in A Futile And Stupid Gesture, the Netflix feature about the guys who founded National Lampoon and turned into a comic force that hatched John Hughes, John Belushi, and movies including Animal House and Caddyshack. Forte already was set to play Doug Kenney, and Gleeson will play Henry Beard, who formed the humor magazine with Kenney and Robert Hoffman. David Wain is directing the film, which Michael Colton…...
- 4/4/2016
- Deadline
Negotiations are underway between Will Forte, David Wain (director of Wet Hot American Summer) and Netflix, regarding the creation of A Futile and Stupid Gesture. The project is set to follow the life and death of National Lampoon co-founder Doug Kenney, whom Forte would portray in the film.
Although the National Lampoon franchise is known for its comedic material, Kenney’s story is a tragic one. After creating National Lampoon with Henry Beard and Robert Hoffman – all Harvard graduates – Kenney moved to Los Angeles to be closer to the creation of films like Animal House and Caddyshack. A drug and alcohol problem began soon after.
His issues came to a head when friend Chevy Chase took him on a trip to Hawaii:
The negative reviews that Caddyshack received sent Kenney on a downward spiral, and in an effort to lift his spirits, Chevy Chase took him to Hawaii. When Chase...
Although the National Lampoon franchise is known for its comedic material, Kenney’s story is a tragic one. After creating National Lampoon with Henry Beard and Robert Hoffman – all Harvard graduates – Kenney moved to Los Angeles to be closer to the creation of films like Animal House and Caddyshack. A drug and alcohol problem began soon after.
His issues came to a head when friend Chevy Chase took him on a trip to Hawaii:
The negative reviews that Caddyshack received sent Kenney on a downward spiral, and in an effort to lift his spirits, Chevy Chase took him to Hawaii. When Chase...
- 3/17/2016
- by Mitchel Broussard
- We Got This Covered
Chicago – Before the days of 24/7 internet access to every form of entertainment that exists, there were eras of radical performance expression that changed the landscape of attitudes toward everything – think of The Beatles evolving music and also changing social culture. The roots of another evolution, especially in comedy, began with a modest humor magazine that brought together the right mix of anarchists and misfits. What they did would influence comedy for years afterward, and their story is told in “Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of National Lampoon,” directed by Douglas Tirola.
“National Lampoon” Magazine was a national publication founded in 1970, that was spawned from the Harvard Lampoon, and brought together a team of 1960s-influenced comic radicals that changed the way humor was conveyed. No sacred cows existed on their pages, and the magazine also broke out into signature comedy records, stage performances and radio shows. This cottage industry featured...
“National Lampoon” Magazine was a national publication founded in 1970, that was spawned from the Harvard Lampoon, and brought together a team of 1960s-influenced comic radicals that changed the way humor was conveyed. No sacred cows existed on their pages, and the magazine also broke out into signature comedy records, stage performances and radio shows. This cottage industry featured...
- 10/19/2015
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Attention comedy geeks everywhere! To paraphrase a literary classic, this new documentary feature lets us all “look back in laughter” at one of the most influential humor magazines of the last fifty years. Actually its legacy reaches on past its newstand existence. Yes, it’s been absent from newsstands (there’s still a few of them left) for nearly twenty years. But, to paraphrase again, we’ve come “not to bury this magazine, but to praise it”. And to recall the chuckles and the mini-empire it spawned. Of course, this wasn’t the first humor publication. Puck paved the way decades before. Then Mad magazine shook up the staid 1950’s. But by 1970, that mag had somewhat settled into a (still entertaining) routine, poking fun at suburbia, and wasn’t connecting with the “counter-culture”. Younger “baby boomers” wanted their humor to have a sharper edge, to reflect the “hippie” spirit, and...
- 10/9/2015
- by Jim Batts
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
While it’s likely known now to younger generations as a brand that launched some classic ‘80s movies, once upon a time the savagely pointed satirical magazine National Lampoon was the voice of comedy in the United States. Founded by Harvard humorists Douglas Kenney and Henry Beard, the naughty and provocative creators of National Lampoon slid their sneaky fingers under the bra strap of cultural gatekeepers, and after some heavy petting, rested it right on the pulse of the zeitgeist. Founded in the 1970s, as the flower power ideals curdled into the cynical and angry era of Watergate and Vietnam, National Lampoon’s establishment-challenging irreverence and taboo-breaking gallows humor mainlined right into the darker countercultural current. A product of their less-idealistic generation, these outsiders’ incisive wit, ballsy hilarity, and transgressive political, social, and sexual views arrived just when the nation was at its most desperate need for a laugh. Eventually veering.
- 9/25/2015
- by Rodrigo Perez
- The Playlist
As the days get darker and the cold winds of Autumn approach, it’s time to look ahead at the upcoming movies set to hit cinemas this Fall.
The huge slate includes the return of the Jedis, the rebirth of Frankenstein and a new age of Good Dinosaurs. These movies will take audiences to a Galaxy Far, Far Away, on a voyage to Mars and to the summit of the world’s highest mountain, Everest.
Here’s our list of the 2015 Fall movies that we can’t wait to see!
September
The Visit (Sept 11)
Writer/director/producer M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Signs, Unbreakable) and producer Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity, The Purge and Insidious series) welcome you to Universal Pictures’ The Visit. Shyamalan returns to his roots with the terrifying story of a brother and sister who are sent to their grandparents’ remote Pennsylvania farm for a weeklong trip.
The huge slate includes the return of the Jedis, the rebirth of Frankenstein and a new age of Good Dinosaurs. These movies will take audiences to a Galaxy Far, Far Away, on a voyage to Mars and to the summit of the world’s highest mountain, Everest.
Here’s our list of the 2015 Fall movies that we can’t wait to see!
September
The Visit (Sept 11)
Writer/director/producer M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Signs, Unbreakable) and producer Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity, The Purge and Insidious series) welcome you to Universal Pictures’ The Visit. Shyamalan returns to his roots with the terrifying story of a brother and sister who are sent to their grandparents’ remote Pennsylvania farm for a weeklong trip.
- 9/3/2015
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
While it’s likely known now to younger generations as a brand that launched some classic ‘80s movies, once upon a time the savagely pointed satirical magazine National Lampoon was the voice of comedy in the United States. Founded by Harvard humorists Douglas Kenney and Henry Beard, the naughty and provocative creators of National Lampoon slid their sneaky fingers under the bra strap of culture gatekeepers, and after some heavy petting, rested it right on the pulse of the zeitgeist. Founded in the 1970s, as the flower power ideals curdled into the cynical and angry era of Watergate and Vietnam, National Lampoon’s establishment-challenging irreverence and taboo-breaking gallows humor mainlined right into the darker countercultural current. A product of their less-idealistic generation, these outsiders’ incisive wit, ballsy hilarity, and transgressive political, social, and sexual views arrived just when the nation was at its most desperate need for a laugh. Eventually veering.
- 4/17/2015
- by Rodrigo Perez
- The Playlist
Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon
Written by Douglas Tirola & Mark Monroe
Directed by Douglas Tirola
USA | UK, 2015
The new documentary Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon takes us back to the birth of the ultimate problem child, the National Lampoon magazine. Arrested development and controlled substances aside, the Lampoon crew shepherded comedy from its antiseptic television roots through the youth counterculture and back into the mainstream again. It was unfiltered anarchy; vulgar, subversive, and hilarious. Get ready to laugh, feel ashamed for laughing, and then laugh some more.
The list of alumni from National Lampoon reads like a who’s who of comedy royalty. Belushi, Chase, Ramis, Radner, Guest, Murray… and those are just the performers. That doesn’t include all the writers and illustrators toiling behind the scenes of each fevered edition. Writers like co-founders Doug Kenney and Henry Beard,...
Written by Douglas Tirola & Mark Monroe
Directed by Douglas Tirola
USA | UK, 2015
The new documentary Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon takes us back to the birth of the ultimate problem child, the National Lampoon magazine. Arrested development and controlled substances aside, the Lampoon crew shepherded comedy from its antiseptic television roots through the youth counterculture and back into the mainstream again. It was unfiltered anarchy; vulgar, subversive, and hilarious. Get ready to laugh, feel ashamed for laughing, and then laugh some more.
The list of alumni from National Lampoon reads like a who’s who of comedy royalty. Belushi, Chase, Ramis, Radner, Guest, Murray… and those are just the performers. That doesn’t include all the writers and illustrators toiling behind the scenes of each fevered edition. Writers like co-founders Doug Kenney and Henry Beard,...
- 2/5/2015
- by J.R. Kinnard
- SoundOnSight
To those not fortunate enough to have come of age in the 60s heyday of revolutionary freethinking, it may come as a surprise to learn that the story of National Lampoon, in many ways, is the story of the birth and rise of modern comedy.Drunk, Stoned, Brilliant, Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon thoroughly and effectively paints this picture, making evident the correlation of comedy and Rock & Roll. Both mediums were, at the time, received as somewhat lowbrow forms of entertainment: as far as high culture was concerned Rock & Roll played to the pelvis whereas the brand of comedy conceived by Doug Kenney, Henry Beard and Robert Hoffman in 1969, played to a puerile, delinquent desire to lampoon the grown-up world. Yet...
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[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 2/2/2015
- Screen Anarchy
A glob of stray semen is slathered on as impromptu hair gel. A high school flutist describes all the graphic details of her "one time at band camp." A slobbering frat boy climbs a ladder for a close look at disrobing co-eds — a glimpse so revelatory that he plummets backward without batting an eye. Raunch-comedy history is littered with off-color climaxes, and the genre hasn't blown its load quite yet.
Barely Legal: 30 Nearly Pornographic Films
From full-blown sex romps to softcore substitutes spruced up with gags, Hollywood's history of...
Barely Legal: 30 Nearly Pornographic Films
From full-blown sex romps to softcore substitutes spruced up with gags, Hollywood's history of...
- 7/18/2014
- Rollingstone.com
Despite National Lampoon’s recognizability as the comedic brand behind such movies as Animal House, Vacation and, yes, Van Wilder, the magazine behind the name is nearly forgotten today. Photos: 11 Buzzy Summer Beach Reads Drawing on extensive interviews, journalist Ellin Stein recounts in her sprawling new history That’s Not Funny, That’s Sick, how the magazine was, during its brief early-’70s heyday, the boot camp for some of pop culture’s greatest comedians. When Doug Kenney, Henry Beard and Rob Hoffman joined the Harvard Lampoon in the mid-’60s, the humor magazine, founded in 1876, was a venerable institution whose
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- 6/22/2013
- by Andy Lewis
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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