Mike Judge's 'Idiocracy': Evidently It Begins at Home

[helderheid]

By Ann Hornaday
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 9, 2007; Page C01

When Mike Judge's highly anticipated futuristic satire "Idiocracy" opened and promptly closed in a few cities last fall (it never played Washington), the blogosphere lit up. Did Twentieth Century Fox, the film's distributor, intentionally dump the movie? Did it have a hand in what most considered the film's chief flaws (a distracting narration, gratuitous expository sequences)? Put simply, did Fox do to "Idiocracy" what it had done to Judge's 1999 comedy "Office Space," and was the new movie eligible for similar cult status?

We may never know precisely who did what to whom and why (although a hilarious sendup of Fox News in the movie may not have helped). What we do know is that "Idiocracy" appears on DVD today, and once again it seems that Judge, best known for TV shows "Beavis and Butt-head" and "King of the Hill," has gotten the fuzzy end of Fox's lollipop. Like "Borat's" dark twin, "Idiocracy" indicts American culture with a combination of scathing humor and barely concealed rage, as Judge projects what the country will look like 500 years from now. His dystopian vision includes avalanches of trash, a U.S. government that has been purchased for corporate sponsorship by a sports drink, and a citizenry that, through demographic reverse Darwinism, has become congenitally fat, lazy, stupid and violent.

Angrier and far less forgiving than "Office Space," Judge's "Idiocracy" doesn't possess the same cult potential, if only because few will be eager to see themselves in the filmmaker's jaundiced mirror. Still, as an example of smart, stingingly funny polemic, "Idiocracy" is essential viewing. If the world is going to hell in any number of handbaskets -- as Judge so acutely demonstrates that it is -- you might as well hitch a ride in his.

"Idiocracy" tells the story of an Army private and major slacker Joe Bowers (Luke Wilson), who in 2005 is drafted to take part in a confidential hibernation program; the Army finds a female counterpart in a prostitute named Rita (Maya Rudolph), and she and Joe are put into individual "pods" before being sedated for a year.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/08/AR2007010801715.html

[Beelzebud]

1. Welcome to CostCo, I love you! Idiocracy is GREAT!

I watched it last week. Great movie.

[Jokerman]

2. Netflix shipped it to me yesterday

I've been looking forward to seeing it for a long time.

[Little Wing]

3. Tried to rent it yesterday, all copies were already rented

I can't wait to see this

[TexasLawyer]

4. A liitle more info

I LOVE Mike Judge's stuff. I even have an "Initec" coffee cup and red Swingline stapler in his honor.
I'll have to track down Idiocracy.


Was 'Idiocracy' treated idiotically?
Mike Judge's new Austin comedy finally sees the light of day, if minimally
By Chris Garcia

AMERICAN-STATESMAN FILM WRITER

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

<snip>

A large, worried cloud started hanging over the finished film in late 2004, several months after it was shot at Austin Studios with a considerable number of local crew and extras. Fan mumblings grew into unofficial rumors, culminating last month with a report on MTV.com that the film's release had been postponed indefinitely.

Fans of Judge's irreverent humor, particularly his 1998 satire of corporate culture "Office Space," went into cyber-fits. But none of their alternately puzzled and apoplectic Web postings shed light on what was delaying "Idiocracy's" release.

Calls to Judge's assistant, his manager and Fox last week yielded little insight. We learned that Fox is doing zero marketing for the movie — no trailers, posters, television spots or even press kits for media outlets. In response to the snub, Judge is refusing to publicize the movie and wouldn't speak to us. Someone close to Judge grumbled, "Fox dumped the film."

A Fox representative disagreed with that. The handling of the movie "was an executive decision from the chairman," she said. "It's not that we are treating the film coldly." Asked why there is no marketing, no previews and only a limited release, she repeated, "It was an executive decision." That's all she had to say.

It sounds like deja-boo. Fox famously underestimated "Office Space," putting wimpy marketing muscle behind it. Despite good reviews, the comedy tanked in its theatrical run, only to explode as a major cult hit on video, DVD and cable.

<snip>

http://www.austin360.com/movies/content/movies/stories/2006/09/1idiocracy.html