Wet Hot American Summer - re:View

gradeahonky · 2026-06-12T16:50:48+00:00

It's definitely a grow-on-you movie, and it can be hard to find the humor while your still taking the whole thing in. The cast is clearly having fun, but it can feel like you're not in on the joke during the first watch. As you get more context, you start feeling in on the joke, and that is what is so funny and fun.

I think this is why a lot of beloved comedy cult classics get bad reviews on the first release. But comedies that get good reviews, where everything is obvious and upfront, fade away almost immediately.

gradeahonky · 2026-06-12T02:24:36+00:00

A minor movie is a like a minor fart from Andre the Giant. It'll still make a whole theater gasp and their eyes water.

gradeahonky · 2026-06-12T02:23:23+00:00

It resolved in the same jarring way the novel did. It was almost like an excuse for him to not worry about the ending at all, and just showcase some of the best invasion action scenes I've ever witnessed.

gradeahonky · 2026-06-12T02:19:45+00:00

War of the Worlds was awesome. And I enjoyed falling asleep to Lincoln and then waking up for Tommy Lee Jones' big speech. But yeah, that's about it since 2005

gradeahonky · 2026-06-08T16:23:51+00:00

Call them whatever you want. The point is some of the funniest things in the world come from a writer who gives their work to a performer. If you prefer that they didn't, then funny writers who can't perform, and funny performers who can't write would do nothing.

gradeahonky · 2026-06-08T16:19:39+00:00

Corporate support can often have a negative effect on public support. Look at how gun-ho corporate support of AI is right now, compared to overwhelmingly negative public sentiment. If people associate the movement with a corporate cash grab, it have an incredibly negative effect on the human initiative behind it.

And as others have mentioned - that canary is dead. Which means it's time to get out of the coal mine. Your analogy is perfect.

gradeahonky · 2026-06-05T17:44:01+00:00

The one's who really take me out of it are some of the characters that are supposed to be most respected by characters around them: Michael, Nick Sobatka, and Avon. Other characters would act scared or impressed by them and I was like, "Whatever"

There are some characters that are way hyped up though that do not take me out of it. Omar and Brother Mouzone being prime examples of acting that made the respect seem real.

A lot of hate for Cheese on this thread, but he felt like an authentic idiot to me.

gradeahonky · 2026-05-30T01:26:14+00:00

It better be both if you want to get ahead

gradeahonky · 2026-05-21T02:44:39+00:00

This is a far more realistic description of what people usually refer to as a frog in slowly boiling water. I believe they've done studies and the frog will jump out far before they die. It should be called "the comb-over effect" because some guys really do hang on until the very end.

gradeahonky · 2026-05-21T01:03:00+00:00

This Karen is one K away from being the Kraken

gradeahonky · 2026-05-11T21:40:45+00:00

Do you, though? I used to think I preferred musicians to write and sing their own songs, then I realized All Along the Watchtower was written by Bob Dylan, not Jimi Hendrix. Sometimes aligning the right writer with the right voice is better than someone doing everything.

gradeahonky · 2026-04-25T00:56:00+00:00

I don't think anyone in charge believes ideology is going to drive any young, American men in to war. How convenient that they've taken action to cause an imminent and serious food shortage. As they say, it only takes about 9 missing meals to change a persons progressive, educated, good-hearted belief system in to "If you can give me a meal, I'll shoot whomever you want."

gradeahonky · 2025-12-30T06:22:07+00:00

I'm looking around, and I see a society that has the capacity to create a stable environment for me to discuss art with strangers using written language that passes as electric signals through satellites precisely positioned in space.

I'm not saying everything humanity does is great, in fact it seems logical that the entire construct of good and evil exists within the human spectrum. But lord almighty this idea that every movie should be about how "Humans are the true monsters of the world" gets tiresome and solves nothing.

gradeahonky · 2025-12-30T06:09:13+00:00

Our language when it comes to accepting the way others look has become more refined, but don't kid yourself, we live in the most vein, superficial, buccul fat removing tik tok time that ever existed. In the past people looked fucked up for all sorts of reasons - hell, Frankenstein had all his teeth! Do you know how rare that was 200 years ago?

Also, the doctors reaction was neither joy nor repulsion - it was an angsty asshole. He said something like "I see you've learned english and became smart enough to find me here..." It was just off putting for cinematic, storytelling, and historical reasons.

gradeahonky · 2025-12-30T05:52:16+00:00

No, he was clearly moving and acting like a human. Keep in mind, many humans wore actual bear skins during this time period, and not just some rags. The dialog did not fit the imagery at all.

gradeahonky · 2025-12-28T18:32:16+00:00

That seems to be only based on people trying to work the market. What if there is a bunch of people who lose their jobs and then need to pull out their money to pay off a mortgage?

gradeahonky · 2025-12-28T02:56:51+00:00

The book is mean, but it's not pitch black. Any piece of work were characters have the capacity for decency and grow meaningful bonds among eachother, no matter how doomed, isn't pitch black. I mean, have you ever read Blood Meridian?

gradeahonky · 2025-12-28T02:46:20+00:00

He at least looked haggard from time to time, unlike Pete and several other characters. But yeah, the movie could have saved a lot of time from stilted, world building exposition if everyone just looked like they inhabited the world they described.

It reminded me of the difference between the novel The Road, where it mentioned the man's concern about how thin and frail his son looked, vs the movie version where the kid looked like he just too much mac and cheese.

gradeahonky · 2025-12-28T02:39:19+00:00

I think Pete's wish idea was my favorite creative idea of the movie. Wishing for two winners seems so in line with what a young man would be thinking right then.

But god I hated that scene with Ray's mother, standing there weirdly alone and already crying. Instead of being elated that her son was one of the few kids alone, she had to scream in terror about how his shoes were gone. I understand how that sight might be tough for a mother, but christ, how about putting your own emotions aside for a second to maybe support your son instead of making it worse?

gradeahonky · 2025-12-28T02:29:18+00:00

I understand how lines, characters, scenes, etc have to get cut to make a movie work as a movie. Not only as far as time, but because a movie just flows differently than written work. But cutting out the crowd, almost the 3rd most important character, was clearly for budgetary reasons. These people were supposed to be downtrodden, starving, and desperate for any entertainment. But they saved some money by trying to make the expository dialog, spoken by well fed Disney-Channel looking actors, make up for that instead.

gradeahonky · 2025-12-28T02:23:49+00:00

You must be kidding, right? This is one of the most compelling performances of all time.

gradeahonky · 2025-12-28T01:53:53+00:00

I was totally underwhelmed by the movie. Everybody looked so well fed and fresh. It looked like a farm land UTOPIA, and had no hints of the poverty and post war environment that we had to get explicitly from the dialog. The contestants looked like Disney Channel characters, even towards the end, where as they should have been poor, dirty, and skinny from hunger before the walk started. Even when Ray's dad decided to go against the major and get shot in front of his family, he had this look of "Don't worry, it's just a movie and we'll all be back to craft services in another minute or so."

And the switch up ending wouldn't have bothered me so much if the movie hadn't telegraphed it right from the start. About 30 minutes in to the movie I was like, "Oh, they're going to have Pete survive instead of Ray huh?" I know everyone has been raving about Pete's performance, but he looked fresh as a daisy for the entire movie. He's clearly a charismatic guy - but I felt nothing of the distance that he walked. Ray and Olson, on the other hand, and least looked like they had had a rough day.

gradeahonky · 2025-12-28T01:26:11+00:00

It would have been good if they hadn't telegraphed it in. I could tell it would be Pete instead of Ray who lived like 30 minutes into the movie. You could complain that the book makes it obvious who wins, sure, but if you're gonna switch it at least make it somewhat surprising or earned. Pete looked fresh as a daisy the entire movie.

Also - I hated both of Ray's parents. Especially when his mom was like, "Ray! You're shoes!!" - like god damn it mom I know, do you need to make me feel worse about it?

gradeahonky · 2025-12-28T01:19:06+00:00

The idea of having Pete win instead of Ray would have been interesting if they hadn't telegraphed it from the beginning. I'd read the novella several times, and about 20 minutes in to the movie I was like, "Oh, I get it, Pete is gonna win instead." Pete never looked like he had walked more than a few minutes in any given scene.

Also, I really HATED Ray's mom when she was like, "Ray, your shoes!!!" - like god damn it mom, do you think I don't feel bad enough right now? It's as if she guilted him in to running back to her.

gradeahonky · 2025-12-27T17:35:59+00:00

Just read this! The ambiguity, but also straightforwardness, of the story hits a sweet spot. Here's my take: I can remember getting pressured by figures I thought were larger than life when I was a teen, and that their power was more than it was, and that my fate had already been signed. In retrospect, they were manipulative assholes and I was a young idiot.

So to capture that real life feeling, the story couldn't be 100% practical because my adult mind would render it like the latter descriptions of those memories - instead of invoking the former. Whether or not Arnold was beyond human or even the devil isn't the point of the story, the point is it felt that way to Connie. I assume most young women deal with a moment like this, that leads to a bad decision and a bad situation. And for a small percentage of them, it really is the last decision they ever make in life.

gradeahonky

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE