A Parody of themselves

     One of the world's guiltiest pleasures is Parody or Spoof films. Films that make fun of mostly melodramatic award winning movies. Usually viewed as really stupid by critics but always doing well at the box office, these films always wind up with a cult following.
      Austin Powers is probably the famous character to come out of a spoof film. The entire movie makes fun of James Bond films with Mike Myers as the villain and the hero. The characters have hilarious names much like the Bond girlfriends and villains always did.
      The Powers films were a rare example of a spoof film staying true to the original premise of the film being made fun of, and I personally found those movies to be humorous. Many parody films are overly goofy and terribly tacky.
      Epic Movie is one of the dumbest films I've ever seen. Lots of gross out humor and breaking the fourth wall. The movie makes fun of big budget elaborate movies that do thirty times as well at the box office due to appeal it might have. This movie wasn't epic and had zero appeal. The title is erroneous beyond measure.
      Disaster movie was a disaster. This movie doesn't lie to you in the title. It's about big budget natural disaster films (Twister), but this movie is really stupid. Maybe that was the intention, but come on, it wasn't even funny stupid, like South Park or Monty Python. It plain stank. Putting movie in the title feels so pretentious to me.
      Scary Movie (pretentious) was actually really funny. A parody of the movie Scream, it features many amusing references to the original gfilm and the actors who portrayed the roles of the characters. Like many "horror" films, Scary Movie spawned four sequels, all of which were awful. Fits the horror genre formula. Well done, Wayans Brothers.
       I must admit there are two parody films I am in love with. Shaun of the Dead and hot Fuzz, both done by the same people. The British made films were both hilarious, original, and down to earth. Hard to come by in any spoof film.
        Shaun of the dead was about a slacker who loses his girlfriend in the midst of a zombie invasion. The epidemic was largely ignored by Shaun and his friend for a while, until they saw warnings on the TV. Then they went to pick up their loved ones and go to a bar they think will be safe. The movie was very relatable.
         George A. Romero himself found them really funny. Romero created the zombie genre thwe writers of this film loved so much. Dawn of the Dead and land of the dead were the two biggest inspirations for Shaun of the dead. And there's the biggest thing. This film had original characters in a different situation. It was a romantic comedy with zombies, a unique departure from the spoof film norm.
         Hot Fuzz was the other spoof film by the Shaun of the dead guys. It made fun of the hard edged detective and his wise cracking sidekick buddy cop films. It's not as funny as Shaun of the Dead, but it far surpasses Shaun in storytelling, acting, and certainly action. The dialogue in both films is phenomenal. More proof that the British are much more talented than Americans.
         I hate most spoof films but some guys get it right. I'm guilty of making my own parody versions of songs, kind of like Weird Al Yankovic. Movies are harder to spoof because it's ninety minutes of assault on an original product. That's tough to do right, and personally I'd never try it. Let the original movie speak for itself.