Oh man, remember the nineties?

With South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone are in the unique position of being able to basically do whatever the hell they want (as famously documented in 6 Days to Air). While this near-total creative freedom produces a stinker of an episode once every three or four shows or so (taking chances on jokes that might not work is what makes it so good), it’s also allowed South Park to become the overall and most consistently comedically relevant show of the last 15 years. Having made a crapload of money on virtually everything they’ve touched, the last thing they need is notes from some studio exec who’ll probably be fired in the next six months. They have enough F-You money now that they could burn it just to keep the rest of their money warm, so it only makes sense for them to start their own studio and continue doing whatever the hell they want. And that’s exactly what they’re doing. These men are goddamned heroes and I will fight you if you disagree.

The new company is to be called Important Studios and hopes to be just that. With an estimated value of $300 million built on revenue from “South Park,” now in its 16th season on Comedy Central, and the Broadway megahit “The Book of Mormon,” the studio will have the power and money to approve television, movie and theater projects, including a big-screen version of “The Book of Mormon.”

On Friday, Mr. Parker and Mr. Stone were putting together the final news release to announce their studio. They settled on this quip: “Having worked with several different studios over the years, we came to realize that our favorite people in the world are ourselves.”

Important Studios will incorporate revenue from “South Park” and “The Book of Mormon,” as well as revenue from future projects. “The Book of Mormon,” one of the highest-grossing Broadway musicals in recent years, received nine Tony Awards in 2011 and has grossed more than $200 million.

That amount continues to grow because the New York production makes $1.6 million a week, according to the producers. A touring version of the show makes about $1.6 million a week, and another production in Chicago grosses $1.5 million a week. And the show is about to go into production in London.

Mr. Stone and Mr. Parker, who created the musical, are the largest shareholders in “The Book of Mormon,” followed by the film producer Scott Rudin and others. Among the first projects that Important Studios is likely to develop is a movie version of the musical. [NY Times]

These guys have been able to work outside Hollywood for basically their entire career, doing it their way and kicking ass pretty much the entire time. I most humbly hope for more of the same.

Though if they really want to make some money, the first order of business should be hiring Awesome-o. Have you heard his pitches? That robot’s a hit machine! He’s like a robot Tyler Perry, only more talented.

Read the rest of this entry »

One of my least favorite questions in the world is: “What’s your favorite movie?” I get that a lot, obviously, but I always weasel out of it by either explaining that I have to break my favorite movies down into genres because it’s impossible to pick just one ultimate film or by kicking the person in the balls and sprinting away. Another reason it’s so difficult is because I prefer to be a Negative Nurnsy. That’s how I make all of my cool Internet friends, by criticizing and defecating on the hard work of others.

One movie that I won’t ever criticize is The Shining, or my Favorite Movie of All-Time, Category: Films that Scared the Sh*t Out of Me as a Kid (Okay, and Now, Too). And between the holiday season rolling in, my eternal fear of ever staying at a ski resort during a snow storm, South Park’s recent send-up of the Stephen King/Stanley Kubrick classic, and the fact that girls everywhere still awesomely dress as the dead twins for Halloween, I’ve become rather nostalgic.

So I scoured the webs and found some of my favorite tributes, photoshops, memes and just generally enjoyable pictures and GIFs regarding The Shining to share with you all, because I love them and they deserve to be shared. Also, working on the Worst Movies of the Year feature drives a good man insane. This is more therapeutic than anything.

Read the rest of this entry »

I don’t want to make a habit out of talking about what happened on TV last night, because for one thing, that’s more WarmingGlow‘s bag, but I’d be a slapdash blogger if I didn’t mention last night’s South Park, which included a subplot starring our favorite megalomaniacal billionaire submarine captain, James Cameron, who’s also been known to direct the occasional film when he’s not hunting unicorn on his flying yacht. I won’t go into detail about how Cameron fit into the overall plot, but I’m including below a clip of my favorite bit from the show, where James Cameron pilots his submersible deep below the waves while listening to a Davy Crockett-style song called “James Cameron.”

This was the second South Park episode of the new season and their second home run, as far as I’m concerned. It’s in its 16th season now, and while there were a few rough patches early on, I think it’s possible to make the case that South Park has been funnier more consistently and for longer than The Simpsons (and obviously edgier, but you can’t really fault the Simpsons for not being on cable). Trey Parker is twice as funny and just as musically talented as Seth MacFarlane, but you don’t see Trey Parker being asked to host the Oscars. He’d scare the sh*t out of everyone there, which is probably why his show’s so damn good. But it’s much easier to dole out accolades to shows like Modern Family, because it incorporates a couple gay characters into its stew of old-fashioned sitcom tropes (the bumbling dad, the precocious child, the hilariously-accented foreigner, etc.), than it is to invite something as legitimately subversive as South Park to the party. Last night’s South Park was more important to our nation’s democracy than the presidential debates! Okay, that’s probably the booze talking, but it was pretty good. (*hic*)

Read the rest of this entry »

So… did anyone see the gyrocycle thing in the new Men in Black 3 trailer and NOT instantly think of the fingercuff machine from South Park (aka “The Entity,” their Segway parody)? Because me and whoever made this side by side here sure did. I hope Will Smith’s buddy Tom Cruise makes a cameo as the inventor, WHOA! Whackety schmackety good one, Jay.

[imgur - tip via]

Read the rest of this entry »

Courtesy of Noah Harald, here’s a mash-up of the actual trailer for Adam Sandler’s Jack and Jill, and the South Park parody of it. An obvious mash-up choice, perhaps, but still fun. That’ll do, internet, that’ll do. The best part about South Park’s parody is that because they got it out before Jack and Jill had a trailer, when people saw the actual Jack and Jill trailer, at least half of them thought, “Wait, isn’t this the fake movie from South Park?” Mmm, that’s a good burn.

Also, did anyone else notice that in the film, Jack apparently has two children, an Amish girl with a doll replica of herself and an Indian kid with a dildo strapped to his head? I feel like not enough is being made of this.

Read the rest of this entry »