"Tron" and "Caddyshack" star Cindy Morgan has died, TMZ is reporting. The actress who appeared in several hit films and TV shows, most notably in the 1980s, was 69 years old. The outlet confirmed the news with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, but the details surrounding Morgan's passing are not currently available.
Morgan began her career as a weather reporter, but her first on-screen acting role came in 1979, when she played Elaine in the erotic comedy "Up Yours." Known for her striking blonde hair and blue-eyes, Morgan was cast in bombshell roles, including as the goofily named character Lacy Underall in the 1980 Bill Murray-led comedy "Caddyshack." The actress soon found herself in the zeitgeist, appearing in the cyberspace action-adventure film "Tron" as Dr. Lora Baines, a scientific assistant who was dating Encom programmer Alan (Bruce Boxleitner). In the same film, Morgan also played Yori, a cool and powerful computer program that,...
Morgan began her career as a weather reporter, but her first on-screen acting role came in 1979, when she played Elaine in the erotic comedy "Up Yours." Known for her striking blonde hair and blue-eyes, Morgan was cast in bombshell roles, including as the goofily named character Lacy Underall in the 1980 Bill Murray-led comedy "Caddyshack." The actress soon found herself in the zeitgeist, appearing in the cyberspace action-adventure film "Tron" as Dr. Lora Baines, a scientific assistant who was dating Encom programmer Alan (Bruce Boxleitner). In the same film, Morgan also played Yori, a cool and powerful computer program that,...
- 1/6/2024
- by Valerie Ettenhofer
- Slash Film
Ah, 1978. It was the year that Slashfilm writer Lee Adams entered the world, and two movies changed the course of comedy forever (those landmarks are unrelated; I'm not trying to claim any credit). Those movies were "National Lampoon's Animal House" and Cheech and Chong's "Up in Smoke" — two lowbrow hits whose influences are still felt to this day.
There was lowbrow stuff before 1978, of course. Slapstick — the age-old art of falling over, breaking things, and hitting people — was still doing the rounds in the increasingly weary adventures of Inspector Clouseau. But the class of '78 was different: wild, irreverent, raucous, bawdy, subversive, counterculture comedy that delighted the kids and antagonized the squares.
The two films had their roots in the '60s. Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong developed their stand-up act in the latter part of the decade before making their break on the big screen with the granddaddy of stoner movies,...
There was lowbrow stuff before 1978, of course. Slapstick — the age-old art of falling over, breaking things, and hitting people — was still doing the rounds in the increasingly weary adventures of Inspector Clouseau. But the class of '78 was different: wild, irreverent, raucous, bawdy, subversive, counterculture comedy that delighted the kids and antagonized the squares.
The two films had their roots in the '60s. Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong developed their stand-up act in the latter part of the decade before making their break on the big screen with the granddaddy of stoner movies,...
- 3/26/2023
- by Lee Adams
- Slash Film
Just like Carl Spackler and his imagined victory at the Masters, “Caddyshack” was the surprise cult comedy no one saw coming.
The year was 1980. Chevy Chase and Bill Murray were at the peak of their fame in their halcyon “Saturday Night Live” days; Rodney Dangerfield and Ted Knight were having career resurgences; and “Animal House” was a massive blockbuster that ushered in a new generation of slobs vs. snobs comedy into the mainstream.
And yet the cast, producer Doug Kenney and director Harold Ramis were prepared for “Caddyshack” to tank. Ramis was a first-time director trying to wrangle a fiasco of a production. Early preview screenings made them think they had floated a Baby Ruth in the pool rather than landed on the next “Animal House.” And the response from critics and the box office was tepid at best.
Entertainment Weekly film critic Chris Nashawaty’s new book, “Caddyshack: The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story,” charts the journey the film took to cult acclaim, from Kenney’s time at National Lampoon to the cast’s rise to stardom at Second City and “SNL.” There are a lot of surprise revelations about the making of “Caddyshack,” from cocaine-addled benders on set to some last minute scrambling to get Murray’s character in the film at all.
Also Read: 'Groundhog Day' at 25: How Bill Murray Rom-Com Became an Accidental Classic
The original draft of the script was 200 pages long – and Carl Spackler wasn’t in it
The original script of “Caddyshack” written by Ramis, Kenney and Brian Doyle-Murray clocked in at 200 pages and was far different from the movie it would become. “It looked like the Bible,” an executive on the film, Mark Canton, says in the book.
The script went through so many last minute changes on set that the actors lost track of them. Entire monologues and memorable lines of dialogue from Chase, Dangerfield, Murray and more were completely improvised, as was much of the film.
Not once in the 200 pages did the name Carl Spackler appear, Nashawaty writes. Murray was a late addition to the cast, and when he finally did have a character, he appeared in only a handful of scenes. His “Dalai Lama” story was given to another actor who struggled with it, his scene with Chase’s character Ty Webb was tacked on after Murray had already wrapped and returned to “SNL,” and his “Cinderella Story” monologue was entirely an invention of Murray. There was nothing written in the script for the scene, so Ramis gave Murray the direction, “Did you ever do imaginary golf commentary in your head?” The rest is, well, a miracle.
Also Read: Bill Murray to Open 'Caddyshack'-Themed Bar Near Chicago
Mickey Rourke was strongly considered to play Danny Noonan
The role of Danny Noonan went down to two finalists — Mickey Rourke and Michael O’Keefe, who ultimately booked it. “This was the early, young, hot, relaxed Mickey Rourke,” O’Keefe says in the book. “He was as compelling as Marlon Brando in a way back then…But I’m a little more easy on the eyes than Mickey. Clearly it would have been a much darker movie.”
Ramis described Rourke as “maybe too real for the movie,” saying, “Michael O’Keefe seemed like a really good boy. Plus, he was a scratch golfer. Mickey Rourke was much more complicated.”
Nearly everyone was doing cocaine – A Lot of it
Michael O’Keefe says in Nashawaty’s book that “cocaine was everywhere” on the set. He described his 11 weeks there as “a permanent party.” Instead of responsible producers making sure everyone played by the rules, Kenney led the charge of much of the cast and crew’s rampant drug use. “The eagle has landed; the eagle has landed! Get your per diems in cash, the dealer’s here,” he would yell, running through their motel hallways. Chase described that cocaine would just “materialize” on set, much to the annoyance of Knight, who always got to bed early, showed up for call time early and didn’t appreciate the looser, more improvisational approach to filming.
Also Read: 'Ghostbusters' Origin Story: How John Belushi and Cocaine Helped Inspire Slimer
Shooting at the same time and released the same summer was “The Blues Brothers,” which was also when John Belushi started getting heavily addicted to cocaine. According to Nashawaty, when that film’s budget started rising as a result of Belushi’s binges, the studio was forced to crack down on the parties on the “Caddyshack” set.
Bill Murray was a “magnificent flake”
Murray has countless urban legends to his name, but his legendary status started even before his “Caddyshack” days. He was shooting the Hunter S. Thompson movie “Where the Buffalo Roam” in the summer of ’79, and was due back in New York for “SNL” in the fall, so Ramis had him for just six days. But Murray never made it clear just when he’d show up on set. As far as Ramis knew, Murray was Mia.
Turns out Murray had commandeered Lorne Michaels’ Vw bug and had driven it everywhere from Los Angeles to Florida to Aspen and took it upon himself to install a stereo along the way. When he finally arrived, he rolled up in a golf cart and said, “Which way to the youth hostel?” The following morning, Murray and actress Cindy Morgan (who played Lacey Underall in the film) woke up together on a nude beach in Jupiter, Florida, after the two had just met.
The gopher saved the day
As Nashawaty writes, it became clear fairly quickly that Ramis was out of his depth in editing “Caddyshack.” He had come from an improv background and used a “yes and…” mentality during filming, but he struggled to find a connective thread for the countless scenes of his actors just riffing and being goofy. The first cut of “Caddyshack” clocked in at four and a half hours. And it was a mess.
They had several editors look at the footage and attempt to salvage it, but it was executive producer Jon Peters who suggested that the gopher, only seen sparingly at first, could be the thing that tied everything together. They were then forced to ask the studio for an extra half-million dollars to build an animatronic gopher and, in the process, cut out the romantic subplots of many of the younger actors. When Kenny Loggins saw that gopher dance, the theme song he wrote should’ve been a clue that everything with “Caddyshack” would be just fine: “I’m Alright. Nobody worry about me.”
Read original story 5 Crazy Stories You Didn’t Know About the Making of ‘Caddyshack’ At TheWrap...
The year was 1980. Chevy Chase and Bill Murray were at the peak of their fame in their halcyon “Saturday Night Live” days; Rodney Dangerfield and Ted Knight were having career resurgences; and “Animal House” was a massive blockbuster that ushered in a new generation of slobs vs. snobs comedy into the mainstream.
And yet the cast, producer Doug Kenney and director Harold Ramis were prepared for “Caddyshack” to tank. Ramis was a first-time director trying to wrangle a fiasco of a production. Early preview screenings made them think they had floated a Baby Ruth in the pool rather than landed on the next “Animal House.” And the response from critics and the box office was tepid at best.
Entertainment Weekly film critic Chris Nashawaty’s new book, “Caddyshack: The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story,” charts the journey the film took to cult acclaim, from Kenney’s time at National Lampoon to the cast’s rise to stardom at Second City and “SNL.” There are a lot of surprise revelations about the making of “Caddyshack,” from cocaine-addled benders on set to some last minute scrambling to get Murray’s character in the film at all.
Also Read: 'Groundhog Day' at 25: How Bill Murray Rom-Com Became an Accidental Classic
The original draft of the script was 200 pages long – and Carl Spackler wasn’t in it
The original script of “Caddyshack” written by Ramis, Kenney and Brian Doyle-Murray clocked in at 200 pages and was far different from the movie it would become. “It looked like the Bible,” an executive on the film, Mark Canton, says in the book.
The script went through so many last minute changes on set that the actors lost track of them. Entire monologues and memorable lines of dialogue from Chase, Dangerfield, Murray and more were completely improvised, as was much of the film.
Not once in the 200 pages did the name Carl Spackler appear, Nashawaty writes. Murray was a late addition to the cast, and when he finally did have a character, he appeared in only a handful of scenes. His “Dalai Lama” story was given to another actor who struggled with it, his scene with Chase’s character Ty Webb was tacked on after Murray had already wrapped and returned to “SNL,” and his “Cinderella Story” monologue was entirely an invention of Murray. There was nothing written in the script for the scene, so Ramis gave Murray the direction, “Did you ever do imaginary golf commentary in your head?” The rest is, well, a miracle.
Also Read: Bill Murray to Open 'Caddyshack'-Themed Bar Near Chicago
Mickey Rourke was strongly considered to play Danny Noonan
The role of Danny Noonan went down to two finalists — Mickey Rourke and Michael O’Keefe, who ultimately booked it. “This was the early, young, hot, relaxed Mickey Rourke,” O’Keefe says in the book. “He was as compelling as Marlon Brando in a way back then…But I’m a little more easy on the eyes than Mickey. Clearly it would have been a much darker movie.”
Ramis described Rourke as “maybe too real for the movie,” saying, “Michael O’Keefe seemed like a really good boy. Plus, he was a scratch golfer. Mickey Rourke was much more complicated.”
Nearly everyone was doing cocaine – A Lot of it
Michael O’Keefe says in Nashawaty’s book that “cocaine was everywhere” on the set. He described his 11 weeks there as “a permanent party.” Instead of responsible producers making sure everyone played by the rules, Kenney led the charge of much of the cast and crew’s rampant drug use. “The eagle has landed; the eagle has landed! Get your per diems in cash, the dealer’s here,” he would yell, running through their motel hallways. Chase described that cocaine would just “materialize” on set, much to the annoyance of Knight, who always got to bed early, showed up for call time early and didn’t appreciate the looser, more improvisational approach to filming.
Also Read: 'Ghostbusters' Origin Story: How John Belushi and Cocaine Helped Inspire Slimer
Shooting at the same time and released the same summer was “The Blues Brothers,” which was also when John Belushi started getting heavily addicted to cocaine. According to Nashawaty, when that film’s budget started rising as a result of Belushi’s binges, the studio was forced to crack down on the parties on the “Caddyshack” set.
Bill Murray was a “magnificent flake”
Murray has countless urban legends to his name, but his legendary status started even before his “Caddyshack” days. He was shooting the Hunter S. Thompson movie “Where the Buffalo Roam” in the summer of ’79, and was due back in New York for “SNL” in the fall, so Ramis had him for just six days. But Murray never made it clear just when he’d show up on set. As far as Ramis knew, Murray was Mia.
Turns out Murray had commandeered Lorne Michaels’ Vw bug and had driven it everywhere from Los Angeles to Florida to Aspen and took it upon himself to install a stereo along the way. When he finally arrived, he rolled up in a golf cart and said, “Which way to the youth hostel?” The following morning, Murray and actress Cindy Morgan (who played Lacey Underall in the film) woke up together on a nude beach in Jupiter, Florida, after the two had just met.
The gopher saved the day
As Nashawaty writes, it became clear fairly quickly that Ramis was out of his depth in editing “Caddyshack.” He had come from an improv background and used a “yes and…” mentality during filming, but he struggled to find a connective thread for the countless scenes of his actors just riffing and being goofy. The first cut of “Caddyshack” clocked in at four and a half hours. And it was a mess.
They had several editors look at the footage and attempt to salvage it, but it was executive producer Jon Peters who suggested that the gopher, only seen sparingly at first, could be the thing that tied everything together. They were then forced to ask the studio for an extra half-million dollars to build an animatronic gopher and, in the process, cut out the romantic subplots of many of the younger actors. When Kenny Loggins saw that gopher dance, the theme song he wrote should’ve been a clue that everything with “Caddyshack” would be just fine: “I’m Alright. Nobody worry about me.”
Read original story 5 Crazy Stories You Didn’t Know About the Making of ‘Caddyshack’ At TheWrap...
- 5/1/2018
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Joel McHale is unleashed. The comedian’s new Netflix series “The Joel McHale Show with Joel McHale” looks a bit like his long-running E! series “The Soup,” thanks to the green screen, the guest stars, and The Staffer Formerly Known As Mankini. But the new show comes armed with a secret weapon in executive producer Paul Feig, and a mandate to expand the scope beyond entertainment.
“We wanted to broaden the show,” McHale recently told IndieWire’s Turn It On podcast. “E! always wanted me to keep it to entertainment news or entertainment and no sports or anything like that, and don’t get too weird. This allows us to go all over the place.”
McHale spent 11 years as host of “The Soup,” and kept it going even as his career exploded and he ended up starring in the late great comedy “Community.” But as management changed at E!, McHale...
“We wanted to broaden the show,” McHale recently told IndieWire’s Turn It On podcast. “E! always wanted me to keep it to entertainment news or entertainment and no sports or anything like that, and don’t get too weird. This allows us to go all over the place.”
McHale spent 11 years as host of “The Soup,” and kept it going even as his career exploded and he ended up starring in the late great comedy “Community.” But as management changed at E!, McHale...
- 3/22/2018
- by Michael Schneider
- Indiewire
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
The Netflix original movie A Futile and Stupid Gesture tells the true story of National Lampoon co-founder Doug Kenney (Will Forte). It goes as far as the National Lampoon production of Animal House and Kenney’s Caddyshack before he died. Knowing that part of Kenney’s story would include Animal House, director David Wain didn’t want to just do the Animal House scenes everyone was expecting. “The goal was to pick moments that are very memorable from Animal House but see them from a different perspective and from a different context,” Wain said. There is a food fight in the movie, because...read more...
- 2/4/2018
- by Fred Topel
- Monsters and Critics
Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival and then available on Netflix practically the next day, the true-story-inspired comedy-drama (accent on the comedy) A Futile and Stupid Gesture recounts the life and high times of Doug Kenney, the now-nearly-forgotten co-founder of the seminal (accent on…never mind) humor magazine-cum-movie brand National Lampoon. Mostly incarnated by Will Forte (with assists from Martin Mull as an older version, and twins Frank and Morgan Gingerich as the 12-year-old Doug), Kenney comes across here as a classic biopic character: gifted, charismatic, original and audacious, but also a demon-ridden sometime asshole, especially to the women in his...
- 1/31/2018
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival and then available on Netflix practically the next day, the true-story-inspired comedy-drama (accent on the comedy) <em>A Futile and Stupid Gesture</em> recounts the life and high times of Doug Kenney, the now-nearly-forgotten co-founder of the seminal (accent on…never mind) humor magazine-cum-movie brand <em>National Lampoon</em>. Mostly incarnated by Will Forte (with assists from Martin Mull as an older version, and twins Frank and Morgan Gingerich as the 12-year-old Doug), Kenney comes across here as a classic biopic character: gifted, charismatic, original and audacious, but also a demon-ridden sometime asshole, especially to the women in his life....
- 1/31/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Here are a bunch of little bites to satisfy your hunger for movie culture: Fandom Parody of the Day: Nerdist has created the ideal (spoiler filled) opening crawl for Star Wars: Episode IX to appease all the fans disappointed with The Last Jedi: Video Essay of the Day: The latest video from Like Stories of Old looks at the philosophy of Blade Runner 2049: Movie Influencer of the Day: Netflix celebrates the subject of its new biopic A Futile and Stupid Gesture with this look at the incredible influence of writer Doug Kenney: Movie Comparison of the Day: Speaking of A Futile and Stupid Gesture, Dimitreze presents scenes from the new Netflix movie side by side with clips from Saturday...
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- 1/30/2018
- by Christopher Campbell
- Movies.com
The Morning Watch is a recurring feature that highlights a handful of noteworthy videos from around the web. They could be video essays, fanmade productions, featurettes, short films, hilarious sketches, or just anything that has to do with our favorite movies and TV shows. In this edition, John Williams conducts the orchestra during a recording […]
The post The Morning Watch: John Williams Conducts ‘The Last Jedi’, The Comedy Influence of Doug Kenney & More appeared first on /Film.
The post The Morning Watch: John Williams Conducts ‘The Last Jedi’, The Comedy Influence of Doug Kenney & More appeared first on /Film.
- 1/29/2018
- by Ethan Anderton
- Slash Film
A Futile and Stupid Gesture is still a David Wain movie even though it’s a biography. It’s fitting since it’s the biography of a satirist, so Wain finds self-referential ways to tell the story of National Lampoon founder Doug Kenney. The film begins with Doug as an old man (Martin Mull) calling out biopic tropes. At first he’s simply making fun of flashbacks and sad music, but later the Mull version of Kenney calls out the film’s whiteness. That’s apropos, and messing with the historical accuracy is fun. The story picks up with young Kenney (Will Forte) at Harvard. He...read more...
- 1/27/2018
- by Fred Topel
- Monsters and Critics
Comedy writer/director David Wain returns to the Sundance Film Festival for a fourth time with A Futile and Stupid Gesture, his feature on the rise and fall of the National Lampoon empire. The film stars Will Forte as Lampoon co-founder Doug Kenney and is based on a 2006 book by Josh Karp. Wain tapped Kevin Atkinson to shoot the film after the two worked together on Wain’s Childrens Hospital and the prequel and sequel to Wet Hot American Summer. Below, Atkinson discusses his experiences as Dp on the project with Filmmaker. A Futile and Stupid Gesture hits Netflix on January […]...
- 1/27/2018
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Plot: The rise and fall of National Lampoon, as seen through the eyes of its two founders, Doug Kenney (Will Forte) and Henry Beard (Domhnall Gleeson). Review: It’s clear that all involved with A Futile And Stupid Gesture idolize the people behind “National Lampoon”. In its era, the Lampoon was seen as one of the most defiant, potentially dangerous underground magazines, which... Read More...
- 1/26/2018
- by Chris Bumbray
- JoBlo.com
With the arrival of A Futile and Stupid Gesture on Netflix on Friday, audiences will get a deep dive into the life of National Lampoon co-creator and Caddyshack and Animal House screenwriter Doug Kenney.
For the film's producer Peter Principato, Kenney was not a name with which he was familiar prior to his involvement in the project. After receiving the book of the same name — on which the film is based — nearly a decade ago, Principato tells The Hollywood Reporter, "I was completely inspired and in awe and embarrassed that I didn’t know who Doug Kenney was, and felt an...
For the film's producer Peter Principato, Kenney was not a name with which he was familiar prior to his involvement in the project. After receiving the book of the same name — on which the film is based — nearly a decade ago, Principato tells The Hollywood Reporter, "I was completely inspired and in awe and embarrassed that I didn’t know who Doug Kenney was, and felt an...
- 1/25/2018
- by Lauren Huff
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
With the arrival of <em>A Futile and Stupid Gesture</em> on Netflix on Friday, audiences will get a deep dive into the life of <em>National Lampoon</em> co-creator and <em>Caddyshack </em>and <em>Animal House</em> screenwriter Doug Kenney.
For the film's producer Peter Principato, Kenney was not a name with which he was familiar prior to his involvement in the project. After receiving the book of the same name — on which the film is based — nearly a decade ago, Principato tells <em>The Hollywood Reporter</em>, "I was completely inspired and in awe and embarrassed that I didn’t know who Doug Kenney was,...
For the film's producer Peter Principato, Kenney was not a name with which he was familiar prior to his involvement in the project. After receiving the book of the same name — on which the film is based — nearly a decade ago, Principato tells <em>The Hollywood Reporter</em>, "I was completely inspired and in awe and embarrassed that I didn’t know who Doug Kenney was,...
- 1/25/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
It’s hard to talk about “A Futile and Stupid Gesture” — a somewhat funny and largely conventional movie about a very funny and wholly unconventional man — without talking about the film’s borderline-insane framing device. If you know absolutely nothing about “National Lampoon” co-founders Doug Kenney (Will Forte) and Henry Beard (Domhnall Gleeson), and would like to keep it that way until David Wain’s biopic can illuminate you on its own terms, consider this a reluctant spoiler warning. For everybody else… well, it’s certainly a choice.
Here’s the gist: Adapted from Josh Karp’s book of the same name, “A Futile and Stupid Gesture” retraces the true story of how two subversive Harvard grads took the road less traveled, started the most dangerous satirical magazine in American history, and became ground zero for a generation of comics that included the likes of Bill Murray and Gilda Radner.
Here’s the gist: Adapted from Josh Karp’s book of the same name, “A Futile and Stupid Gesture” retraces the true story of how two subversive Harvard grads took the road less traveled, started the most dangerous satirical magazine in American history, and became ground zero for a generation of comics that included the likes of Bill Murray and Gilda Radner.
- 1/25/2018
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
As you made your film during the increasingly chaotic backdrop of the last year, how did you as a filmmaker control, ignore, give in to or, conversely, perhaps creatively exploit the wild and unpredictable? What roles did chaos and order play in your films? A Futile and Stupid Gesture was my first experience doing a biopic, which I learned is a daunting task. How do you give meaning and structure to decades of a person’s life, in the course of one movie? And Doug Kenney’s life was defined by chaos. So we knew that in shooting, it was important to […]...
- 1/25/2018
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Starting this week, the 2018 Sundance Film Festival gives us a first glimpse at the year in cinema, but even if you won’t be at Park City, we’re rounding up an initial glimpse at the premieres. After highlighting our most-anticipated films, bookmark this page for a continually-updated round-up of trailers and clips, kicking off with the Jon Hamm-led Beirut, World Cinema offerings Pity and Loveling, the documentaries Seeing Allred and Genesis 2.0 (pictured above), and more.
Check out the trailers (and clips) below thus far in alphabetical order and we’ll be posting reviews from Park City soon, so follow along here.
Beirut (Brad Anderson)
A U.S. diplomat flees Lebanon in 1972 after a tragic incident at his home. Ten years later, he is called back to war-torn Beirut by CIA operatives to negotiate for the life of a friend he left behind.
A Boy, A Girl, A Dream.
Check out the trailers (and clips) below thus far in alphabetical order and we’ll be posting reviews from Park City soon, so follow along here.
Beirut (Brad Anderson)
A U.S. diplomat flees Lebanon in 1972 after a tragic incident at his home. Ten years later, he is called back to war-torn Beirut by CIA operatives to negotiate for the life of a friend he left behind.
A Boy, A Girl, A Dream.
- 1/15/2018
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Baby, it's cold outside – so you're probably going to spend most of January sitting on your couch and streaming to your heart's content. Maybe you want an anarchic look at the life of the sad clown behind National Lampoon, or a stand-up special making light of the darkness in life. Perhaps you need yet another TV anthology planting its flag on the horror TV canon. Or you might just want to catch up on a handful of 2017's theatrical releases. Here's your best streaming options for the next month. (You...
- 1/2/2018
- Rollingstone.com
In the 1970's, Harvard students Doug Kenney, Henry Beard, and Robert Hoffman founded a little magazine by the name of National Lampoon, which rapidly grew in popularity until it included all manner of media, from records, television, theater, and of course, movies such as Animal House and Vacation. Based upon Josh Karp's book of the same name, Netflix's A Futile And Stupid Gesture tells the story of "comedy wunderkind Doug Kenney, who co-created the National... Read More...
- 12/22/2017
- by Kevin Fraser
- JoBlo.com
Sneak Peek footage, plus images from director David Wain's upcoming biographical comedy feature "A Futile and Stupid Gesture". based on the book by Josh Karp, focusing on late comedy writer 'Doug Kenney' during the rise and fall of "National Lampoon" magazine, airing on Netflix, January 26, 2018:
"...in the 1970's and early 1980's, the success of 'National Lampoon' magazine and its influence creates a new media empire overseen in part by the brilliant comedy writer 'Doug Kenney'..."
Cast includes Domhnall Gleeson, Emmy Rossum, Seth Green, Natasha Lyonne, Annette O'Toole, Thomas Lennon and Will Forte as 'Doug Kenney'.
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "A Futile and Stupid Gesture"...
"...in the 1970's and early 1980's, the success of 'National Lampoon' magazine and its influence creates a new media empire overseen in part by the brilliant comedy writer 'Doug Kenney'..."
Cast includes Domhnall Gleeson, Emmy Rossum, Seth Green, Natasha Lyonne, Annette O'Toole, Thomas Lennon and Will Forte as 'Doug Kenney'.
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "A Futile and Stupid Gesture"...
- 12/22/2017
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
Netflix has launched an official trailer for a new film titled A Futile and Stupid Gesture, from director David Wain, who is already working with Netflix to bring you the "Wet Hot American Summer" series. The sort-of-doc film profiles Doug Kenney, the comedy wunderkind who co-created the "National Lampoon", Caddyshack, and Animal House. It premieres at the Sundance Film Festival and hits Netflix next January. One description explains: "In the 1970s and '80s, National Lampoon's success and influence creates a new media empire overseen in part by the brilliant and troubled Doug Kenney." This reminds me of the other National Lampoon documentary that played at Sundance, Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead. This is much more than just a doc as it features a full cast recreating many of the moments in Kenney's life. Will Forte plays Kenney, and the cast includes Emmy Rossum, Domhnall Gleeson, Seth Green, Natasha Lyonne, Annette O'Toole,...
- 12/21/2017
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
National Lampoon, the humor magazine that eventually jumped into the movie business, now has its own biopic courtesy of Wet Hot American Summer filmmaker David Wain. A Futile and Stupid Gesture, which hits Netflix next month, focuses on National Lampoon co-founder Doug Kenney, played in the film by Will Forte. The trailer provides a look at the film and reveals that it’s not […]
The post ‘A Futile and Stupid Gesture’ Trailer Tells The National Lampoon Origin Story appeared first on /Film.
The post ‘A Futile and Stupid Gesture’ Trailer Tells The National Lampoon Origin Story appeared first on /Film.
- 12/21/2017
- by Chris Evangelista
- Slash Film
Netflix has released the first fantastically fun trailer for their new film A Futile and Stupid Gesture. The film comes from David Wain (Wet Hot American Summer) and it tells the crazy true story of the early days of National Lampoon. If you've never heard of National Lampoon, you must've been living under a rock since you were born.
Before they produced classic films like Animal House, Caddyshack, and Vacation, they were an irreverent magazine that exploded and caused all kinds of insane controversy with all kinds of different people and groups. Here's the synopsis that was released:
A Futile and Stupid Gesture is the story of comedy wunderkind Doug Kenney, who co-created the National Lampoon, Caddyshack, and Animal House. Kenney was at the center of the 70’s comedy counter-culture which gave birth to Saturday Night Live and a whole generation’s way of looking at the world.
While talking to EW,...
Before they produced classic films like Animal House, Caddyshack, and Vacation, they were an irreverent magazine that exploded and caused all kinds of insane controversy with all kinds of different people and groups. Here's the synopsis that was released:
A Futile and Stupid Gesture is the story of comedy wunderkind Doug Kenney, who co-created the National Lampoon, Caddyshack, and Animal House. Kenney was at the center of the 70’s comedy counter-culture which gave birth to Saturday Night Live and a whole generation’s way of looking at the world.
While talking to EW,...
- 12/21/2017
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
Gags, naughty cover shoots, cocaine and other debauchery are showcased in the new trailer for the David Wain-directed A Futile and Stupid Gesture, the upcoming biopic on National Lampoon cofounder Doug Kenney.
Will Forte plays the younger Kenney while Martin Mull portrays the older Kenney in the film, which is based on the book A Futile and Stupid Gesture: How Doug Kenney and National Lampoon Changed Comedy Forever by Josh Karp.
The trailer highlights the wild antics that took place behind the magazine, reflecting its ethos, and features the characters that shaped the publication,...
Will Forte plays the younger Kenney while Martin Mull portrays the older Kenney in the film, which is based on the book A Futile and Stupid Gesture: How Doug Kenney and National Lampoon Changed Comedy Forever by Josh Karp.
The trailer highlights the wild antics that took place behind the magazine, reflecting its ethos, and features the characters that shaped the publication,...
- 12/21/2017
- Rollingstone.com
Things get absurdly comedic in the new trailer for Netflix’s A Futile and Stupid Gesture starring Will Forte. Directed by Wet Hot American Summer‘s David Wain, the movie is based on the story of Doug Kenney (Forte) who, along with Henry Beard (played by an unrecognizable Domnhall Gleeson), co-created the counter-culture comedy magazine National Lampoon. The trailer is full of absurd high jinx, ’70s-era wigs, cocaine-infused craziness and gives us a first look at the…...
- 12/20/2017
- Deadline
A Futile and Stupid Gesture will make its debut next month at the Sundance Film Festival, but today Netflix released the first trailer for the comedy about the creators of the National Lampoon.
David Wain (Wet Hot American Summer) directed the feature, which stars Will Forte as Doug Kenney and Domhnall Gleeson as Henry Beard, the duo behind the magazine and production company that spawned Animal House and Caddyshack.
The spot also features Lampoon mainstays like Chevy Chase (Community's Joel McHale), John Belushi (John Gemberling), Gilda Radner (Jackie Tohn) and Bill Murray (Jon Daly).
A Futile and Stupid Gesture will premiere on Netflix on Jan....
David Wain (Wet Hot American Summer) directed the feature, which stars Will Forte as Doug Kenney and Domhnall Gleeson as Henry Beard, the duo behind the magazine and production company that spawned Animal House and Caddyshack.
The spot also features Lampoon mainstays like Chevy Chase (Community's Joel McHale), John Belushi (John Gemberling), Gilda Radner (Jackie Tohn) and Bill Murray (Jon Daly).
A Futile and Stupid Gesture will premiere on Netflix on Jan....
- 12/20/2017
- by Mia Galuppo
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
<em>A Futile and Stupid Gesture</em> will make its debut next month at the Sundance Film Festival, but today Netflix released the first trailer for the comedy about the creators of the <em>National Lampoon</em>.
David Wain (<em>Wet Hot American Summer</em>) directed the feature, which stars Will Forte as Doug Kenney and Domhnall Gleeson as Henry Beard, the duo behind the magazine and production company that spawned <em>Animal House </em>and<em> Caddyshack</em>.
The spot also features <em>Lampoon</em> mainstays like Chevy Chase (<em>Community</em>'s Joel McHale), John Belushi (John Gemberling), Gilda Radner (Jackie Tohn) and Bill Murray (Jon Daly).
<em>A Futile and Stupid Gesture </em>will premiere on ...
David Wain (<em>Wet Hot American Summer</em>) directed the feature, which stars Will Forte as Doug Kenney and Domhnall Gleeson as Henry Beard, the duo behind the magazine and production company that spawned <em>Animal House </em>and<em> Caddyshack</em>.
The spot also features <em>Lampoon</em> mainstays like Chevy Chase (<em>Community</em>'s Joel McHale), John Belushi (John Gemberling), Gilda Radner (Jackie Tohn) and Bill Murray (Jon Daly).
<em>A Futile and Stupid Gesture </em>will premiere on ...
- 12/20/2017
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
It’s fitting that David Wain’s upcoming, Sundance-bound biopic “A Futile and Stupid Gesture” appears to ably — and amusingly — blend fact and fiction to serve up a unique slice of mostly-true goodness. The film, which will debut on Netflix next month, follows the real-life exploits of Doug Kenney (played by Will Forte, with Martin Mull stepping in to play an older version), “National Lampoon” co-founder and “Caddyshack” and “Animal House” screenwriter.
As Entertainment Weekly notes, “His comic seeds blossomed everywhere, and then…he was gone, a victim of his own excesses and inner demons.” (While Mull plays an older Kenney, he actually died back in 1980, at the age of 33.)
Read More:‘The Last Man on Earth’ Review: Will Forte Goes Down With the Ship in a Surprising Season 3 — And Series? — Finale
When it comes to his inspiration for making the film, it was easy, as Wain told EW, “You...
As Entertainment Weekly notes, “His comic seeds blossomed everywhere, and then…he was gone, a victim of his own excesses and inner demons.” (While Mull plays an older Kenney, he actually died back in 1980, at the age of 33.)
Read More:‘The Last Man on Earth’ Review: Will Forte Goes Down With the Ship in a Surprising Season 3 — And Series? — Finale
When it comes to his inspiration for making the film, it was easy, as Wain told EW, “You...
- 12/20/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
After delivering one of the funniest, most tear-inducing parodies of all-time with They Came Together, David Wain gave us two Wet Hot American Summer TV seasons, and now he’s finally back to feature films with a look at the early days of National Lampoon. A Futile and Stupid Gesture, which premieres at Sundance and hits Netflix soon after, now has its first trailer.
“The whole task of the movie was terrifying in that way, in that we’re laying down the story of something that is important to a lot of people,” Wain tells EW. “But what I realized is that we can only just tell our story. Everyone has a different point of view. Memory is so elastic and people have wildly different recollections of even very objective facts. So we just listened to everybody and then we created a story.”
Led by Will Forte and also starring Domhnall Gleeson,...
“The whole task of the movie was terrifying in that way, in that we’re laying down the story of something that is important to a lot of people,” Wain tells EW. “But what I realized is that we can only just tell our story. Everyone has a different point of view. Memory is so elastic and people have wildly different recollections of even very objective facts. So we just listened to everybody and then we created a story.”
Led by Will Forte and also starring Domhnall Gleeson,...
- 12/20/2017
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The <em>National Lampoon</em> writers room just got a little bigger.
Matt Lucas is joining Netflix's <em>A Futile and Stupid Gesture</em>, the origin story of the humor magazine that became a major force in 1970s comedy.
He's attached to an ever-growing cast that already includes <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/will-forte-star-as-national-875870" target="_blank">Will Forte</a>, Domhnall Gleeson, Emmy Rossum, Matt Walsh and Joel McHale.
Lucas will be playing English satirist Tony Hendra, who was the first editor hired by <em>National Lampoon</em> founders Doug Kenney and Henry Beard.
<em>Wet Hot American Summer</em>'s David Wain will direct the film, which is adapted from the 2006 book by Josh Karp ...
Matt Lucas is joining Netflix's <em>A Futile and Stupid Gesture</em>, the origin story of the humor magazine that became a major force in 1970s comedy.
He's attached to an ever-growing cast that already includes <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/will-forte-star-as-national-875870" target="_blank">Will Forte</a>, Domhnall Gleeson, Emmy Rossum, Matt Walsh and Joel McHale.
Lucas will be playing English satirist Tony Hendra, who was the first editor hired by <em>National Lampoon</em> founders Doug Kenney and Henry Beard.
<em>Wet Hot American Summer</em>'s David Wain will direct the film, which is adapted from the 2006 book by Josh Karp ...
- 4/14/2016
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Domhnall Gleeson, who last year starred in<em> Ex Machina</em> and played a villain in <em>Star Wars: The Force Awakens</em>, is joining Will Forte in <em>A Futile and Stupid Gesture</em>, Netflix’s movie about the founding of <em>National Lampoon.</em>
<em>Wet Hot American Summer'</em>s<em> </em>David Wain is directing the feature project, which centers on the tragic story of Doug Kenney, one of the co-founders of <em>National Lampoon.</em>
Kenney was the editor of the <em>Harvard Lampoon</em> when he met Henry Beard and Robert Hoffman, which, soon after graduation, resulted in the creation of <em>National Lampoon</em>, the humor magazine that became a major force and brand in 1970s comedy....
<em>Wet Hot American Summer'</em>s<em> </em>David Wain is directing the feature project, which centers on the tragic story of Doug Kenney, one of the co-founders of <em>National Lampoon.</em>
Kenney was the editor of the <em>Harvard Lampoon</em> when he met Henry Beard and Robert Hoffman, which, soon after graduation, resulted in the creation of <em>National Lampoon</em>, the humor magazine that became a major force and brand in 1970s comedy....
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