Comedy Archives - Cinematic Panic

Club Dread (2004): More Slasher or Comedy? I’m here for Bill Paxton!

By Fabian Bullitt 11 September 2024The MoviesBroken Lizard, Comedy, Horror, Movie Review

After revisiting the Super Troopers movies, I thought I’d continue with another Broken Lizard movie, Club Dread, a horror comedy from 2004. Or was it a comedy of horrors? I’m joking badly to try to express what was probably the downfall of that peculiar mix of slasher and Jimmy Buffett parody.

But please, don’t go talking about Margaritaville to Coconut Pete, you’ll kill all the fun!

When a serial killer interrupts the fun at the swanky Coconut Pete’s Coconut Beach Resort—a hedonistic island paradise for swingers—it’s up to the club’s staff to stop the violence … or at least hide it!

Super Troopers 2 (2018): They came back for more shenanigans!

By Fabian Bullitt 5 September 2024The MoviesBroken Lizard, Comedy, Movie Review, On My Shelf

Seventeen years later, they are back! They took their time and I’m pretty sure that if they waited a bit longer a streaming service would have offered them to produce this Super Troopers sequel. Anyway, the Broken Lizard team (Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, and Erik Stolhanske) went back to their first and probably biggest success with Super Troopers 2, in 2018. Already six years ago.

It’s a bit like Bill & Ted’s return, after all these years of fans asking for it, you hope it would not suck. Yes, the comparison is not the best as the cultural impact of the two is quite different, but still, with movies that look of their time, you may expect that almost two decades later a sequel may fall a bit flat. The thing is, here, it doesn’t feel that long ago for some reason.

When an international border dispute arises between the U.S. and Canada, the Super Troopers—Mac, Thorny, Foster, Rabbit and Farva—are called in to set up a new Highway Patrol station in the disputed area.

Super Troopers (2001): Still Having Fun on the Job Two Decades Later, Meow!

By Fabian Bullitt 3 September 2024The MoviesComedy, Movie Review, On My Shelf

Saying it’s an “early 2000s American Comedy” is almost like giving a very precise description. There was something strangely specific and most of it didn’t age that well. I haven’t seen Eurotrip (2004) in a while, but already at the time it was better than the rest, so I hope it is still quite funny. Another favorite of mine from that period was Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004) which I used to watch again and again until I didn’t anymore.

Super Troopers also was apart from the rest. First of all, it was an adult comedy at a time when teenage comedies were more prevalent. After all, Old School came after (in 2003) and for me, it was what redirected the genre in a more adult direction.

Anyways, I developed a soft spot for Broken Lizard’s comedies—the comedy troupe that comprises Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, and Erik Stolhanske—and it began with Super Troopers directed by Chandrasekhar.

Five bored, occasionally high and always ineffective Vermont state troopers must prove their worth to the governor or lose their jobs. After stumbling on a drug ring, they plan to make a bust, but a rival police force is out to steal the glory.