Page 2 February 8, 2018
Film Review
The Original Story of the Irreverent
National Lampoon Finally Gets Its Due
By Ryan Rojas
for www.cinemacy.com
While you’ve likely heard the name National
Lampoon, or may count Caddyshack or Animal
House to be among your favorite movies, do
you know who Doug Kenney is? Until now,
Kenney – the comedy genius who co-created
National Lampoon – has remained mostly
unknown, while the comedians who were
launched from it (among them Bill Murray,
Gilda Radner and Chevy Chase) have come
to overshadow Kenney’s own fame. The new
movie, A Futile and Stupid Gesture (now
streaming on Netflix) highlights the life of
Kenney and the wild rise of this new school
of comedy. Both a silly send-up as well as a
sentimental tribute, Futile is sure to delight
both the purist comedy nerds looking to
get their history fix of the birth of National
Lampoon as well as those just looking for
some low-stakes laughs.
Based on the novel of the same name by
Josh Karp, the story begins back in Doug’s
(Will Forte) undergrad years at Harvard,
where he meets fellow wisecracking slacker
Henry Beard (Domhnall Gleeson). Together,
the duo would create the first iteration of
the Lampoon – a comedy collective that was
“really just an excuse to party.” It’s Kenney
who wants to keep the party going postgraduation,
convincing the more levelheaded
Beard to create a national magazine of their
irreverent comedy for all juveniles. As it turns
out, there was a counterculture of collegeaged
kids waiting to embrace a publication
like this, whose shocking magazine covered
politics and culture through raunchy comics
and cheeky nudity.
It’s around this time in the movie that we
start to meet the people who would form
National Lampoon’s original writing staff
(Thomas Lennon, Natasha Lyonne, Tony
Hendra). One of the hilarious devices that A
Futile and Stupid Gesture utilizes is a clever
use of meta-awareness, especially when it
comes to commenting on the actors who are
playing the real-life comedians of Christmas
past. It’s this level of self-reflexive nonseriousness
that director David Wain (Wet Hot
American Summer) wonderfully incorporates
into the movie, which conjures the anarchic
and playful spirit of the Lampoon and back
into the movie itself.
As a biography movie, Wain does service
to both Kenney and the story by hitting every
major milestone of the Lampoon’s successes
and wobbly setbacks, straddling the balance of
funny and worry. The flighty Kenney moves
on to bigger and grander ideas: a National
Lampoon radio hour, which introduces new
players Bill Murray (Jon Daly), John Belushi
(John Gemberling) and Chevy Chase (Joel
McHale), who would go on to star in such
films like Animal House and Caddyshack.
It’s around this time that A Futile and
Stupid Gesture explores Kenney’s darker
period. It doesn’t shy away from showing his
crippling anxiety and growing competition
(a certain late-night weekend sketch show
is accused of stealing all of his players).
But not to bring down the mood, as Wain
and Kenney and the rest of his wild team
would surely object if they felt their story
was getting too sentimental. adding further
delight to the movie is a smattering of visual
sequences that bring iconic Lampoon magazine
covers to life right before our eyes. If Wain
was attempting to tell the purest and most
honest form of Kenney’s story, then he wildly
succeeded. If he was looking to make a silly,
wacky comedy with a little bit of heart for
audiences everywhere, then he did that too.
With A Futile and Stupid Gesture, we finally
see the merry madness that Doug Kenney
went through in search of a laugh – however
futile and stupid it may have seemed.
For our red carpet interview with the cast
of A Futile and Stupid Gesture, visit www.
cinemacy.com
A Futile and Stupid Gesture is not rated.
101 minutes. Now streaming on Netflix. •
Finance
Buckle Up for the New
Passenger Economy
(BPT) - A hundred years ago, few thought
that the clunky automobile that broke down so
often would ever replace a horse. In the 1970s,
people wondered if the personal computer that
a few eccentrics were using would have any
use beyond storing recipes. It’s safe to say
that these innovations, along with many of
the technologies we now use daily, were once
considered impossible dreams.
Right now, the most-talked-about piece of
technological innovation that is poised to transform
our lives is the autonomous or self-driving car.
As self-driving cars gain widespread adoption,
analysts are predicting the rise of what is known
as the passenger economy - a term coined by
Intel - that is expected to be worth $7 trillion
by 2050 as validated in a new report by analyst
firm Strategy Analytics.
The following are five big areas of opportunity
that will unfold in the passenger economy era.
Time will be on people’s side. One of the
most obvious benefits of a self-driving car is
the amount of time it frees up. Drivers become
passengers, and so will be able to concentrate
on other tasks. Not only will people be able to
work or watch a movie on their way to work,
but the commute itself will be shorter, since
traffic congestion will become a thing of the
past. With smarter analytics, it’s estimated that
by 2050, the widespread use of autonomous
cars will free up over 250 million hours of
commute time per year in the most congested
cities. With self-driving cars, we are poised to
see powerful new opportunities that deliver
personalized messages to consumers. For
instance, algorithms can compute routes
and route history to hone in on passengers
with specific onboard advertisements from
surrounding businesses or attractions. This
could be a huge boost to local businesses and
will be much more effective than the primitive
billboard. Mobility-as-a-service. Imagine
ordering take-out, or having your groceries
or a package of diapers come to your door
via a driverless car. This is something that
we’re likely to see fairly soon. Shipping and
freight companies, local delivery services and
internet giants will make use of autonomous
vehicles to transport goods across the country.
These types of services will likely generate
$3 trillion in revenues by 2050.New business
models. Today, many companies offer perks
such as work-from-home days or the option
for people to leave the office to work in a
cafe or wherever is most suitable for them.
In the not-too-distant future, the workplace
will further transform as the commute evolves.
The self-driving car will blend with the office,
turning the commute into a productive part of
the workday. In turn, this will allow people
to go home earlier and spend more time with
their families. The advent of the passenger
economy will contribute to a safer and more
efficient world. Those who can imagine and
anticipate the coming changes will be in
the best position to get the most out of it. •
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