News: National Lampoon launching record label

National Lampoon announced yesterday that they will launch their own record label, National Lampoon Records, with plans to release twelve albums a year: six originals and six aquireds.

“This is another step in the evolution of the company. National Lampoon continues to be a leader in the comedy world, and we are excited to be expanding our owned and controlled library along with building additional distribution throughout all media,” stated Daniel Laikin, National Lampoon Chief Executive Officer.

I think this is a great idea. A few years ago, Uproar! Entertainment released four of the classic NatLamp albums and two new ones, along with a box set of the classics, but for whatever reason, never got around to releasing Radio Dinner and my personal favorite Goodbye Pop. I'm hoping that these two classics will finally get CD releases! As for new releases, I doubt they'd be able to match the originals but you never know.

Source: Press release

News: Quick News

Some quick things: National Lampoon Presents Cattle Call and Electric Apricot: The Quest For Festeroo are both released today, May 13 (reviews coming once I watch them!); NatLamp sent out a press release announcing they're featured in an article, about the comany's history and growth, in the Mergers & Acquisition Journal; and a press release was issued by CSG Systems announcing that NatLamp will be using an online video store "where consumers can browse, preview, and purchase movies and other goods and merchandise from the National Lampoon catalog." Sounds interesting!

Sources: Press Release; PR-Inside.com

Movie Review: One, Two, Many

National Lampoon Presents One, Two, Many (2007)
90 mins., R
Starring John Melendez, Bellamy Young, Hudson Leick, Jeffrey Ross, Suzanna Melendez, Marc Cuban, Sandra Taylor, Modi Rosenfeld and Jim J. Bullock
Written by John Melendez
Directed by Michael DeLorenzo
Produced by Chapter 2 Productions in association with Digital Film Company
DVD released by National Lampoon and distributed by Arts Alliance America

When I sat down to watch National Lampoon Presents One, Two, Many, I was expecting just that: another one too many bad Lampoon movies! Thankfully, I was wrong.

John Melendez, aka Stuttering John, (who also wrote, co-produced, and wrote/performs several of the songs) stars as Tom, an out-of-work actor who hasn't been happy in any of his relationships because he always wants to be with other women. He finally hits on the idea that the answer to his problem is to find a woman who will want to be with another woman too! Best friend Ernie (Jeffrey Ross) thinks he's crazy, and psychiatrist Derek (Jim J. Bullock) tells him it all has to do with his family. But while subbing for another actor in a dinner theater production, Tom meets the beautiful Jennifer (Bellamy Young) who shares a secret desire—she's always wanted to be with another woman too.

The two start dating, and pretty soon Jennifer tells Tom she's ready for a threesome, but with a set of rules. Everything seems fine until the time of the actual threesome, with a singer named Darla (Hudson Leick) comes, and suddenly a whole new set of problems comes up.

One, Two, Many is surprisingly well-written and most of the actors are really good (a brief cameo by Marc Cuban being one of the few poor ones). John shows actual range, and even has a dramatic moment! The movie isn't set up like a traditional movie; there's a beginning, a middle, and an end, but there's not really a straight path it follows; instead, it's a bunch of connected sketches that tell the story. This actually works pretty good for the movie, although some of the scenes could have used some tighter editing.

This movie was produced for cheap, and unfortuanetly, it shows. It's not too bad, but at times it can be kind of distracting. Also, first time director Michael DeLorenzo doesn't always seem to know what he's doing. A bigger budget and different director might have helped make the movie great, instead of just pretty good. The only other problem I had was that Jim J. Bullock's role was too small! You can never have too much Jim J.! (Although he is responsible for one of the movie's biggest laughs near the end!)

The DVD is again released by National Lampoon and distributed by Arts Alliance America. Special features are the widescreen version (1.85:1); commentary by John Melendez and Michael DeLorenzo; some pretty funny bloopers; a short photo gallery; and trailers for the next three Lampoon movies to hit DVD, Bagboy, Electric Apricot, and Beach Party at the Threshold of Hell. My only complaint with the DVD is the package art. It looks cheap, and just like on Jake's Booty Call, it lists all the special features and then says "And Much More!" No, there isn't! That's all the special features there are!! It's a minor thing, but it annoys me when companies lie like that!

If you're looking for a movie that is different from the usual (and the usual Lampoon movies), with some real laugh-out-loud moments, then check out National Lampoon Presents One, Two, Many.

News: Quick updates

Two quick bits of news: National Lampoon published a press report yesterday, announcing a deal they've made with Cox Business/Hospitality Network to show NatLamp content on Pay-Per-View channels in Las Vegas hotel rooms. Also, they've started a new site, WhoreDiamonds.com, a site where you can rate whores using a diamond system, based on the system used by the Emperor's Club prostitution ring. I don't really get why it's funny, but whatever. And look for my review of One, Two, Many coming whenever I get a chance to write it!

Sources: Press Release, Los Angeles Times

Movie news: Homo Erectus

The Austin Movie Blog got a call from the Lampoon telling them that writer/director Adam Rifkin's caveman comedy, Homo Erectus, will be getting a small theatrical release in May and a DVD release in September. The movie stars Rifkin, Ali Larter, David Carradine, Talia Shire, Hayes MacArthur, Gary Busey, Tom Arnold, Giuseppe Andrews, Miles Dougal, Ron Jeremy, and Carol Alt. There's no official website yet, but the trailer is up on YouTube, and it looks pretty funny! Not sure if it's going to be a "National Lampoon's" or "National Lampoon Presents" movie yet, but I'm guessing "Presents."


Source: Austin Movie Blog

News: Quick News

A couple of little news items: National Lampoon put out a press release about the premiere of One, Two, Many (I'll have a review of the movie up soon!) and another announcing their release of RoboDoc; the Pop Culture Minute or So is now up and running (and lame); and on April 22, Shout! Factory is releasing Totally Baked: A Pot-U-Mentary, which was a Lampoon movie at one time, but for some reason they aren't involved with anymore.

News: National Lampoon starts Pop Minute or So

As a compliment to the National Lampoon Sports Minute or So, a syndicated radio short program, the Lampoon is starting the National Lampoon Pop Minute or So. Both can be accessed from their website. The Pop Minute or So was supposed to start today, but so far, the link isn't clickable. I've never heard or read the Sports Minute, but from what I've heard, it isn't very funny. I'm assuming the Pop Minute will be more of the same!

Movie news: One, Two, Many

The premiere of the new movie National Lampoon Presents One, Two, Many, starring John Melendez, Bellamy Young, Jeffery Ross, and available on DVD tommorow, was held on April 10 in LA. The Vancouver Sun has an article from Reuters about it. You can order it from Amazon or Deep Discount now!

Source: The Vancouver Sun

News: National Lampoon partners with BOOMj

National Lampoon has partnered with BOOMj (never heard of it), a social network for baby boomers (ah, that's why!), to create an ecommerce store that will be available on Lampoon and BOOMj sites.

“National Lampoon is an iconic brand and this partnership will allow both brands to capitalize on the growing online marketplace and introduce the unique BOOMj social shopping platform to the National Lampoon’s audience,” said Wendy Borow Johnson, president of BOOMj Inc. “In addition, BOOMj’s ecommerce store will feature and carry a complete selection of National Lampoon products and memorabilia for our members and customers."

An online store carrying a complete selection of National Lampoon stuff? Well that's pretty sweet! It's about time they did something like this! Although, I don't really know why they're partnering with a site that caters to baby boomers, since most of their current stuff is aimed at college students. Maybe they're hoping for a nostalgia factor?

Source: Press Release

Movie news: The Great American Run

I've never heard of this until now, but apparently National Lampoon made a documentary on The Great American Run, an event based on the classic Cannonball Run car races (which the movies were based on). The first Great American Run, which the documentary covers, was held in 2007, with the second one happening September 7, 2008. The official website has a trailer for the movie when you first go there, but other than a mention of National Lampoon being a sponser, I can't find any other information, on their site or anywhere else on the internet! For now, I'll just assume that National Lampoon's The Great American Run (I've also found a couple sites calling it The Great American Race) will be out on DVD sometime this year, probably self-released. The idea is a good one, and it looks like it'll be better than the horrible National Lampoon's Spring Break 24/7, but I just don't understand why the Lampoon is putting it out. Great American Run doesn't seem to have anything that would attract today's typical Lampoon audience (i.e. horny guys looking for naked boobs). Of course, this could be part of their plan of moving away from the usual crappy Lampoon movies, but until some more information comes out, we'll just have to wait and see.

Movie news: RoboDoc

Just found out today that the new movie, National Lampoon Presents RoboDoc, starring Alan Thicke, David Faustino, Corin Nemec, David DeLuise, Michael Winslow, William Haze, and John Byner has an official website and a MySpace page (where I swiped that poster from!), and will be premiering May 10 at the Hard Rock Live in Orlando, Florida. This was a movie that I wasn't even sure was going to be a Lampoon release; during production, the NatLamp let them use their name to raise money, and they had a first look deal, but I hadn't heard anything about it until now. I have to say, I'm looking forward to this one. Besides the awesome cast of has-beens (seriously, Dr. Seaver, Bud Bundy, Parker Lewis and Jones all in the same movie!!) and the title, which I really like for some reason, the trailer looks pretty funny. Hopefully the full movie is just as funny.

News: National Lampoon partners with VidShadow

National Lampoon and online video network VidShadow have made an agreement where VidShadow will syndicate National Lampoon content across their network.

“In order to maximize the millions of eyeballs which our affiliate sites receive, we need to better engage viewers at the point of contact,” said Hudgens. “Working with National Lampoon and tapping into their tremendous content creation abilities and extraordinarily valuable brand, we expect to dramatically increase affiliate site stickiness and attract major advertisers looking to reach consumers through broadband video.”

Personally, I don't get why the Lampoon is investing so much time and energy into online videos. I've never understood the whole trend; I hardly ever watch any videos. But, I guess if they're able to make money off of it well then more power to them!

Source: Press Release

News: National Lampoon Announces "Joke of the Day"

National Lampoon announced today that they are starting a "Joke of the Day" email program. I know I saw a link for it on their website a few weeks ago but I can't find it now. Apparently, it's on some of their other websites, but I don't feel like clicking around trying to find it. Have you seen how many other sites they're affiliated with now? It's a lot!

“This program is something our base of users and fans have been requesting for years. It’s exciting to finally be able to offer the ‘Joke of the Day’ along with the other platforms over which our content is available on a consistent basis,” said Daniel Laikin, National Lampoon’s Chief Executive Officer. “We are also exploring additional email programs where users can have complete flexibility over the content and frequency of emails.”

I'm just wondering how long this will last...last time they tried this, with their newsletter in the early 2000's, it started weekly, then turned to about monthly, then randomly throughout the year, and then it just disappeared. It was pretty funny though!

Source: Press Release

National Lampoon's Repeat Offenders: Tim Matheson

Welcome to National Lampoon's Repeat Offenders, a quick look at some of the people who have been involved in multiple Lampoon projects!

To start off, I figured who better than the man who almost destroyed the Lampoon? Tim Matheson!

Ooooo, dreamy!!!

Tim Matheson is probably best known for his role as Otter in the first Lampoon movie, Animal House, although a quick look at his page on the IMDb and you can see just how many things he's been in! Matheson's character is one of the most memorable in the movie, a guy who can charm the pants off of anyone (literally!) He returned to NatLamp movies nearly 25 years later when he costarred in Van Wilder as Van Wilder, Sr. The role is smaller, but it's hilarious seeing him mad at his party boy son when everyone knows he played the same type of character! Tim also has one other claim to Lampoon fame: when, along with partner Dan Grodnik, he took over the National Lampoon.

You know, for some one who's been in so many movies, it sure as hell is hard to find pictures of him.

In 1989, when the Lampoon magazine was falling in numbers, Matheson and Grodnik were able to buy up the majority of the shares and Matty Simmons decided to just give them control of the company instead of fighting them. I'm sure Tim is a nice guy and all, but whatever made him think he could run a magazine, I'll never know. They made themselves co-chairmen and co-presidents, and almost immediately, began cancelling lucrative deals that had been lined up for months. Instead of making more money as they had promised, they ended up losing more! For whatever reason, Matheson decided that the magazine should have a more PG-13 approach, so gone were the racy jokes, most swearing, and (gasp!) nudity that had been there since the beginning. Gilbert Gottfried did a hilarious piece on this but I can't remember what issue it was in. Well, eventually Matheson and Grodnik must have realized that they had screwed the company and were going to be screwed themselves, so they sold the Lampoon in 1991 to Jim Jimmiro, an even worse owner who managed to screw the company even worse (but that's another story for another day).

Now what lesson did we learn today kids? Actors shouldn't run companies! Leave that to people who know what they're doing! Join us next time when we take a look at another one of National Lampoon's Repeat Offenders!

Source: If You Don't By This Book, We'll Kill This Dog: Life, Laughs, Love and Death at National Lampoon by Matty Simmons

News: National Lampoon releases 2008 second quarter revenue

The National Lampoon sent out a press release today announcing their financial results for the second quarter of 2008. As usual, they lost a hell of a lot more money than they made, although this year they lost over $1 million less than last year. I honestly don't understand how they can still be in business though when they consistently lose money every year.

Daniel Laikin, Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We are now at the point that we are delivering the film projects that we have been so focused on, and look forward to recognizing revenue from these areas going forward. Now that we have gotten our first original National Lampoon production, 'National Lampoon’s Bag Boy' out to market, we will start to see the associated revenue. We are also now completing post-production of our second feature film 'National Lampoon’s Ratko, the Dictator’s Son', and moving towards production of our third. I’m excited as we look forward to seeing the financial results as we expand our film library and brand.”

Hopefully they will actually turn a profit this year; I'm hoping that the quality of their product will improve now, but only time will tell.

Source: Press Release

New release: National Lampoon's Bagboy

Opening today in a theater probably nowhere near you is National Lampoon's Bagboy. Why they waited until the day before it opens to send out a press release is behind me, but that's the Lampoon for ya. Bagboy is the story of Phil (Paul Campbell), a grocery store bagger who travels to Las Vegas to compete in the International Bagging Campionship. The movie stars Campbell, Dennis Farina, Marika Domincyzk, Robert Hoffman, Nick Lashway, Brooke Shields, Larry Miller, and Richard Kind, and was co-written and directed by Mort Nathan (Kingpin, Boat Trip, National Lampoon's Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj). It's also the first movie National Lampoon has produced in-house, in association with the Farrelly Brothers' Conundrum Entertainment. Even though the Farrelly Brothers' aren't directly involved, I'm still holding out hope that this is going to be better than the average Lampoon movie.

Source: Press Release

Review: Jake's Booty Call

National Lampoon Presents Jake's Booty Call (2003)
77 mins., R
Starring Julian Max Metter, Jay Lerner, Tony D., Billy Thames, Jake Smith, Tommy Chunn, Eric D. Eisner
Written and Directed by Julian Max Metter and Eric D. Eisner
Produced by Romp Films in association with National Lampoon
DVD released by National Lampoon and distributed by Arts Alliance America

To kick off my reviews of NatLamp stuff, I'm starting with their newest DVD release, also the first one they're releasing themselves.

National Lampoon Presents Jake's Booty Call is based on an internet game, Jake's Booty Call from the website The Romp, which was apparantly very succesful back in the early 2000's (I'd never heard of it until the movie). In the game, the player would help Jake, the ultimate pimp, hit on girls and get laid. The movie expands upon this idea by giving it an actual plot!

Hitting on ladies in a bar, Jake (Metter) needs a wing-man and chooses Siton Manoba (Lerner), a prince from the country of Bangasloid. Siton is here on a mission to loose his virginity before his father, King Slobon (Tony D.), makes him the new king. Jake takes Siton under his wing, and together, the two set off around the world in a quest to get Siton laid. But Siton's brother, Likapon (Lerner again) is determined to become king by killing his brother.

Jake's Booty Call was made in 2003, and for awhile, National Lampoon was touring with the movie, showing it at different colleges. Why did it take so long to arrive on DVD? Probably because it suffers from the same problem a lot of NatLamp movies do: it kinda sucks. The whole movie plays like a rejected Adult Swim cartoon, and even at 77 minutes, it feels too long and slow moving. The animation isn't that bad, especially the backgrounds, but the characters were obviously done on a computer. This is the first full-length movie made with Flash, and it shows.

Another problem is the character of Jake isn't really all that likable. I think it would have been a lot funnier if Jake was actually a loser who never got any women, instead of kind of a sleazeball who gets with most of the women he hits on. I think a lot of the humor is supposed to come from the fact that cartoon characters are saying and doing these things, but it's just not funny enough to rely on only that. When the funniest part of your movie is the characters names, you're in trouble.

The DVD is the first to be released by National Lampoon, and it's being distributed by Arts Alliance America. For special features, it has the widescreen version (I'm guessing 1.78:1); four deleted scenes (deleted for good reason); an animatics/final film comparison; a gallery of the girls in the movie, which looks like it was taken right off a computer and has text so tiny you can't read any of it; and an Easter Egg, which is just a song called "Jake's Back" played over a static screen. Hopefully, future releases have better features, although I'm not holding my breath.

Athough I did laugh out loud a few times, I can't really recommend this movie unless you're a die-hard fan of everything NatLamp, like me, or drunk/high/both. I'm guessing most of the people at those college screenings were, and that's why they found it so funny. Other than that, the best audience for this movie is 13-year-old boys, who'll think they're watching something really dirty!

News: NatLamp in danger of being delisted

Acording to the Los Angeles Business Journal, the National Lampoon is in danger of being delisted from the American Stock Exchange for not meeting the listing standards. The reason is they've had losses of $23.8 million over the last 3 years, according to the article. They have until March 27 to present a compliance plan and until August 27 to achieve compliance.

“We have come a long way building our businesses and growing our revenues, and we are finally seeing the results of this,” Daniel Laikin, National Lampoon’s chief executive, said in a statement. “We are already in the process of strengthening our balance sheet through exercise of warrants and conversion of preferred dividends and stock, along with the revenue growth from our film and online media divisions, which will all be part of the plan we submit.”

This isn't anything new; the Lampoon has had financial problems for years, constantly losing money, and pretty much every year, they say they're on the way to turning their fortunes around. I'm also pretty sure this isn't the first time that they've been in danger of being delisted. Personally, I think they should never have even brought the company public. Nobody's going to want to buy stock in a company that's constantly losing money!

Source: Los Angeles Business Journal

Hello and Welcome!

...to the National Lampoon News Blog! This blog is all about the latest National Lampoon happenings. For years, I've been frustrated by how hard it is to find information on new National Lampoon projects. So, I decided to start this blog to post the latest news that I find, all in one spot! I'm also going to be posting reviews of movies, starting with the latest to be released on DVD, Jake's Booty Call, profiles of actors, writers and other people involved in multiple NatLamp projects, and a list of currently available NatLamp stuff. I hope you enjoy!