Mike Judge's "Idiocracy" - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

AKA · 01-14-2007, 04:32 PM

Sometimes it seems to me that the studios can't differentiate between great, thoughtful cinema and disposable tripe.

This seems to be the case with Twentieth Century Fox, the studio that, in 2006 chose to give the abysmal, clichéd John Tucker Must Die a wide summer release while dumping Mike Judge's Idiocracy into (mostly) straight-to-DVD Hell.

There was a very limited theatrical release in September; the film only played on 125 screens (Los Angeles, Atlanta, Toronto, Chicago, Dallas, Houston and Austin). In January, 2007, the film was quietly released onto DVD.

Idiocracy stars Luke Wilson as Joe Bauers, a man who works a desk job in the Army, and is just waiting for his pension to kick in. Unfortunately, he is chosen as a guinea pig for a top secret military experiment, in which he is to be "hibernated" (similar to being cryogenically frozen), and woken up after a year. Hibernating along with Joe is Rita (Maya Rudolph), a prostitute from the private sector.

Unfortunately, things go horribly wrong. Due to internal crisis at the Army base, Joe and Rita aren't taken out of hibernation after a year. In fact, they're both forgotten and remain in their slumbers for 500 years, waking up in the intellect-free year 2505, in which Joe is thought of by many as the smartest man alive.

The movie provides a great social commentary on the devolution of our culture, both in terms of intelligence, as well as the corporatization of our culture. Perhaps this is why Fox chose to hide it from the masses. It's also laugh-out-loud funny. It's my hope that Idiocracy, like Office Space, finds its audience on home video. Fox has made it perfectly clear they don't know how to market Mike Judge on the big screen.

Idiocracy also stars Dax Shepard, Terry Crews (Everybody Hates Chris), David Herman (Office Space) and Sara Rue, and features cameos by Stephen Root, Thomas Haden Church and Justin Long.

TJL · 01-14-2007, 05:24 PM

I am anxiously awaiting this DVD to arrive from Blockbuster online.

It really pissed me off that this movie was barely released in so little theaters (not even in the New York area!) after stiing around on the shelf for over a year.

I would have thought that given the incredible cult status Judge's last film "Office Space" has earned, they would have had more respect for this film. It should have gotten a wide release.

AKA · 01-15-2007, 12:59 AM

That's awesome. You'll have to post your thoughts on the movie after you've watched it.

TJL · 01-20-2007, 07:54 PM

"Idiocracy" finally came in the mail at the end of the week, and I watched it this afternoon.

I liked it very much. As AKA said above the movie provides some very funny (if possibly true) commentary about the de-evolution of our culture thorugh a constant stream of fast food, bad TV and mediocrity. Judge had some very clever digs about the corporatization of America thrown in to boot.

But more importantly, as the opening narration suggests, stupid people should not be the ones purpetuating our species!

A very clever and amusing film by Mike Judge. Hopefully it will become another cult hit.

AKA · 01-21-2007, 01:35 PM

I'm really glad you liked it.

I let my friend borrow it, and he loves it. Now we spend a lot of time quoting lines from the movie. It's as quotable as Office Space.

One of my favorite lines from the movie was Carl's, Jr.'s new slogan.

01-14-2007, 04:32 PM	#1
AKA Member Forum Star Join Date: Dec 17, 2001 Posts: 15,746	Mike Judge's "Idiocracy" Sometimes it seems to me that the studios can't differentiate between great, thoughtful cinema and disposable tripe. This seems to be the case with Twentieth Century Fox, the studio that, in 2006 chose to give the abysmal, clichéd John Tucker Must Die a wide summer release while dumping Mike Judge's Idiocracy into (mostly) straight-to-DVD Hell. There was a very limited theatrical release in September; the film only played on 125 screens (Los Angeles, Atlanta, Toronto, Chicago, Dallas, Houston and Austin). In January, 2007, the film was quietly released onto DVD. Idiocracy stars Luke Wilson as Joe Bauers, a man who works a desk job in the Army, and is just waiting for his pension to kick in. Unfortunately, he is chosen as a guinea pig for a top secret military experiment, in which he is to be "hibernated" (similar to being cryogenically frozen), and woken up after a year. Hibernating along with Joe is Rita (Maya Rudolph), a prostitute from the private sector. Unfortunately, things go horribly wrong. Due to internal crisis at the Army base, Joe and Rita aren't taken out of hibernation after a year. In fact, they're both forgotten and remain in their slumbers for 500 years, waking up in the intellect-free year 2505, in which Joe is thought of by many as the smartest man alive. The movie provides a great social commentary on the devolution of our culture, both in terms of intelligence, as well as the corporatization of our culture. Perhaps this is why Fox chose to hide it from the masses. It's also laugh-out-loud funny. It's my hope that Idiocracy, like Office Space, finds its audience on home video. Fox has made it perfectly clear they don't know how to market Mike Judge on the big screen. Idiocracy also stars Dax Shepard, Terry Crews (Everybody Hates Chris), David Herman (Office Space) and Sara Rue, and features cameos by Stephen Root, Thomas Haden Church and Justin Long. Attached Images

01-14-2007, 05:24 PM	#2
TJL Suburbanite Extrordinaire Forum Star Join Date: Dec 29, 2001 Location: New Jersey - the cradle of civilization Posts: 16,588	I am anxiously awaiting this DVD to arrive from Blockbuster online. It really pissed me off that this movie was barely released in so little theaters (not even in the New York area!) after stiing around on the shelf for over a year. I would have thought that given the incredible cult status Judge's last film "Office Space" has earned, they would have had more respect for this film. It should have gotten a wide release.
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01-20-2007, 07:54 PM	#4
TJL Suburbanite Extrordinaire Forum Star Join Date: Dec 29, 2001 Location: New Jersey - the cradle of civilization Posts: 16,588	Thumbs up! "Idiocracy" finally came in the mail at the end of the week, and I watched it this afternoon. I liked it very much. As AKA said above the movie provides some very funny (if possibly true) commentary about the de-evolution of our culture thorugh a constant stream of fast food, bad TV and mediocrity. Judge had some very clever digs about the corporatization of America thrown in to boot. But more importantly, as the opening narration suggests, stupid people should not be the ones purpetuating our species! A very clever and amusing film by Mike Judge. Hopefully it will become another cult hit.

01-15-2007, 12:59 AM	#3
AKA Member Forum Star Join Date: Dec 17, 2001 Posts: 15,746	That's awesome. You'll have to post your thoughts on the movie after you've watched it.

01-21-2007, 01:35 PM	#5
AKA Member Forum Star Join Date: Dec 17, 2001 Posts: 15,746	I'm really glad you liked it. I let my friend borrow it, and he loves it. Now we spend a lot of time quoting lines from the movie. It's as quotable as Office Space. One of my favorite lines from the movie was Carl's, Jr.'s new slogan.