Idiocracy

Wow, why was this movie buried? It's great. Sure, it's not perfect, and it gets a little hackneyed at the end, but it's better than most of what gets into the theaters these days. I feel really sorry for Mike Judge. Here he's created a daring, original film that really deserved an audience. Instead, it was buried by 20th Century Fox. Granted, Judge shouldn't have tried to work with Fox again (after the problems he had with the release of Office Space). He really should have seen it coming, but you can't blame the guy for trying. The movie, at least, hopefully will get an audience. He's so vicious with his satire here, that you really can't blame Fox for being scared of it: The movie takes place in a future world where Starbucks no longer sells coffee, but instead sex; one of the only phrases people know is "I like money"; and people can buy law degrees at Costco. True to Judge's other work, the satire is mixed with broad humor: The #1 television show in the country is called "Ow, my balls!" and features a guy getting kicked in the nuts for 30 minutes; the #1 movie in the country is a film entitled "Ass" and features a naked butt onscreen for 2 hours; pornography and newspapers have been blended into one simplified magazine; and the anchors on Fox News are portrayed as shirtless muscled men. Definitely not the kind of thing you can market to midwestern America. But for everyone else, my advice is to go see it. It's released on DVD January 9th.
Idiocracy