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Strange Brew

Strange Brew

List Price: $14.96
Your Price: $11.22
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: What took so long
Review: I had waited for this movie to come out on DVD for what seemed like forever. When I finally got it, it was roughly the same as the VHS in both content and quality. There is some bonus material, but as a Bob and Doug fan, there wasn't nearly enough.

It did have one particularly good SCTV skit and an episode their animated cartoon, which is dreadful. However, I would have liked to have found a commentary with Moranis and Thomas included. Something to let me, the viewer, in on the behind the scenes stuff. So far I haven't found that anywhere in the menus.

The movie itself is great. Exactly like the original. How can you not love it eh?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: It's your turn to feed Hosehead!
Review: This is a great movie, eh!?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: About time
Review: If you haven't seen this movie, run out and do so now. This movie is outstanding. Just wish the financing hadn't fallen through on the sequel.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: WARNING: This Film may be Unsuitable for Mature Adults!
Review: First, a little history: The McKenzies debuted on Canada's SCTV in 1979 as the hosts of a two-minute talk show called Kanadian Korner. Bob & Doug (played, respectively by Rick Moranis & Dave Thomas) were a pair of dim-witted anti-authoritarian alcoholics. In spite of being astonishingly incompetent as talk show hosts (or perhaps because of it), the McKenzies quickly became a favorite with SCTV viewers. Never before had Canada's working class been portrayed on TV with such undisguised contempt. When SCTV moved to NBC in the U.S., Kanadian Korner became The Great White North and Bob & Doug soon became the Cheech & Chong of the 1980's. After cutting a Top Ten comedy album and a Top Twenty novelty single, Moranis & Thomas cranked out a screenplay for a Bob & Doug movie; it performed poorly at the box office and the soundtrack album didn't sell. It's just been released on DVD to promote the new Bob & Doug cartoon show. End of history lesson. Now the review.
Strange Brew is an amateurish mess, a hastily-shot movie version of an unpolished screenplay. The film is a 90-minute ego trip for its two stars, who wrote and directed themselves. The evidence suggests that the directors should have hired better writers. As a rule, TV sketch writers lack the discipline needed to turn out a full-length screenplay, and Moranis & Thomas were no exception. To flesh out their storyline, they shamelessly borrowed characters and situations from Hamlet. Some reviewers referred to it as an inside joke for English majors; I prefer to think of it as Dave Thomas leaning on his Master's course in Shakespearean literature for material.
The screenplay reduces the McKenzies to the level of comic relief in their own movie; when they appear on screen, their every bumbling move is telegraphed to the audience by a campy music score that seems to have been lifted from a 1950's B-movie. Characters are tossed into cliffhanger situations where the writers don't even try to come up with a plausible escape plan; the characters survive simply by becoming momentarily indestructible, just like the Munsters.
In the end, Moranis & Thomas have no one but themselves to blame for the film's poor performance; they insisted on writing and directing it themselves despite their complete lack of directing credentials. If they hadn't let their egos get in the way, this could've been the first in a long series of SCTV movies. Sadly, it was the only one ever made. It should've been better. Highlight: SCTV's Mary Charlotte-Wilcox as a nurse who refuses to touch a dead patient. Lowlight: Moranis & Thomas doubling as Mr. & Mrs. McKenzie having sex. Recommended To: Children of Low-Income Beer Drinkers. Not Recommended To: College Graduates.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good Day! But not as good as I remember
Review: I have very fond memories of this movie - it is still entertaining, but not quite the laugh-fest I remember. Maybe I've been jaded by recent gross-out comedies, but pouring beer out of a dirty dog dish doesn't have the effect it once did.

That said, this is still a great movie. There is real chemistry between Bob & Doug, and their antics are still amusing - from releasing moths to drinking vats of beer. This is a like-able pair.

Looking back, I wish I would have rented this instead of buying it, but I'll happily file it in the "nostalgia" section of my DVD collection.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Best Hamlet Ever!
Review: An outrageous take on the Hamlet story, this film works as a belch level comedy and intellectual art. The occasional dips into stock material from SCTV are more than made up for with the generally good writing and clever parody.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Finally, Strange Brew Comes to DVD!
Review: This movie contains at least 100 memorable quotes which will have anyone who has not seen the movie repeating them for months. Make sure you hosers buy this DVD! A true classic.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: It's worth it, eh?
Review: This movie was funny to watch on vhs, but since I finally have it after 2 weeks of it being sold out in the Chicago area, it's even better. I love the cartoon sketch, but I wish there were more SCTV sketches (hence the 4 out of 5 stars). It's a beauty movie, eh? Take off and go get it!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best Adaptation of Hamlet ever!
Review: Take off, eh, you watch this thing!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great movie - poor transfer
Review: This movie is my favorite of all time, but the DVD version does not add much compared to the VHS.

Pros: Widescreen format, so the edges of the picture aren't clipped; some bonus materials including an animated Bob and Doug short, a skit from SCTV, and cast info

Cons: less than perfect picture quality (the reds are really washed out); not enough bonus material (no deleted scenes or commentary) for hardcore hosers such as myself.

All in all, a perfunctory DVD release of a cult-classic that probably doesn't make much money for the studio, so they skimped on the possibilities. The movie itself gets 5 stars, but the release only 2 or 3 in my book.


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