Today’s Prayer Focus

Disaster Movie

also known as “Goodie Two Shoes,” “Meet the Spartans 2,” “Meet the Spartans 2: The Story of McLover and The Kingdom of the Crystal Beer Can”

MPA Rating: PG-13-Rating (MPA)

for crude and sexual content throughout, language, drug references and comic violence.

Moral Rating:	not reviewed
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience:	Teens Adults
Genre:	Spoof Comedy Parody
Length:	1 hr. 30 min.
Year of Release:	2008
USA Release:	August 29, 2008 (wide—2,500 theaters) DVD: January 6, 2009

Relevant Issues

Every time you buy a movie ticket or rent a video you are casting a vote telling Hollywood “That’s what I want.” Why does Hollywood continue to promote immoral programming? Are YOU part of the problem?

Featuring	Carmen Electra, Kimberly Kardashian, Matt Lanter, Nicole Parker, Crista Flanagan, Vanessa Minnillo, Ike Barinholtz, Valerie Wildman, Roland Kickinger, John Di Domenico, Nick Steele, Michelle Lang, Austin Michael Scott, Johnny Rock, Jacob Wood, David Born, Preston James Hillier, Devin Crittenden, Noah Harpster, G. Thang, Jared S. Eddo, Dominique Kelley
Director	Jason Friedberg, Aaron Seltzer
Producer	Jason Friedberg, Jerry P. Jacobs, Peter Safran, Aaron Seltzer, Kenny Yates
Distributor	Lions Gate Entertainment

“Destroying the summer… one movie at a time.”

Here’s what the distributor says about their film: “In DISASTER MOVIE, the filmmaking team behind the hits “Scary Movie,” “Date Movie,” “Epic Movie” and “Meet The Spartans” this time puts its unique, inimitable stamp on one of the biggest and most bloated movie genres of all time—the disaster film.

DISASTER MOVIE follows the comic misadventures of a group of ridiculously attractive twenty-somethings during one fateful night as they try to make their way to safety while every known natural disaster and catastrophic event—asteroids, twisters, earthquakes, the works—hits the city and their path as they try to solve a series of mysteries to end the rampant destruction.

Taking aim at everything and everyone, from ‘Indiana Jones’ and ‘Iron Man’ to Amy Winehouse and “High School Musical,” DISASTER MOVIE lampoons the blockbuster movie, pop culture icons and public figures along the way as Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer satirize everything as only they can.”

Positive

none

Negative

Negative—Rated PG-13. Parents, do not let your children, teenagers or otherwise, see this move. Extremely offensive and crude. Especially degrading to women. Various scenes included spraying breast milk in another's face, mocking abortion (made reference to an abortion using a coat hanger); yeast infections, looking under women's skirts, women wrestling/swearing, heavy drinking, pregnant woman break-dancing, and getting beaten, and her breasts fondled by another woman. All women scantily dressed (except the princess, who chews glass while here mouth bleeds, and walks in glass slippers while her feet bleed). I could go on and on. I've never seen anything like it. The director/producers of this movie depict women in the worst ways imaginable.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Extremely Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 2½

K, age 45

Negative—This film should not have been rated PG-13—it, like other recent movies was under rated and should have been rated R since there is no rating in between PG-13 and R-17 too bad for that. The innuendos and sexual overtones were horrible. I left the theater along with the 4 children I brought, after only 30 minutes—this movie ranks right up there with “Scary Movie,” “Scary Movie 2,” “Don't Mess with the Zohan” and “Blades of Glory” (although “Blades of Glory” had some funny parts). I would like the MPA to take a typical 11 or 13 year old to this movie and sit there with their head raised high, knowing they rated the movie correctly—it would be impossible to do!
My Ratings: Moral rating: Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 1½

Terry Wagner, age 47

Negative—“Disaster Movie” is a horrid movie. Forget about anything offensive in it—it is just plain stupid. In fact, I'm not even going to say what's potentially offensive to Christians, because you shouldn't watch this movie, or let anyone you know watch this movie, no matter what's in it. It could be rated G and it would still be stupid.

I don't know how to properly describe this. Think about the stupidest thing you've ever seen. Well, that was genius compared to what's in this film. The more I think about it, the worse the film seems. And that's saying an awful lot, seeing as I found it incredibly moronic even as I was watching it.

Here's what I found offensive: its stupidity. That's all. The rest was just shrill noise that tried to be offensive, but was so insanely stupid that I couldn't even dredge up enough energy to care. For those of you who are curious, this “shrill noise” includes but is not limited to: jokes about violence, drugs, alcohol, abortion, misogyny, scatology, etc., etc. But they're told in such a stupid way that you won't even be offended. You'll just stare at the screen and say: “Wow. That's… STUPID.”

This film is PG-13. Nobody under the age of 13 should watch this movie. Nobody over the age of 13 should watch this movie. Nobody at all should watch this movie, except for historians 25 years from now who want to know about the most fleeting aspects of pop culture on August 29, 2008. And even they won't enjoy it.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Very Offensive / Moviemaking quality: ½

Jm, age 18 (USA)

Comments from young people

Positive—Hilarious movie, if you've seen a lot of recent movies, you'll get all the gags. To say it's rated PG-13 there is a LOT of mild language, and some weird horror and mildly scary Alvin and the Chipmunks… For viewers to understand big chunks of the movie, they have to have seen a good few movies that are rated 18 and others that are rated R. It's all a big spoof, so without being super critical you'll enjoy all the jokes and mishaps of characters from various recent movies.

As for movie making content, it's terrible—Deliberately. When I checked on IMDB it was rated 1.4/10—which is about right. It's thrown together like a bad home movie, and some weird takes on many characters. Because of the broad range of characters they can use, killing off a couple every minute is doable, because they'll just reel out another random superhero. There are some really clever moments, but as a whole it can't be taken seriously at all.

If you loved Epic Movie, you'll love this—It's pretty much an update of that.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 3½

James Peterson, age 15

Movie Critics

…Real disaster movies have more laughs than this spoof… A plethora of raunchy gags strain the PG-13 rating. …there is a lot of gay-oriented humor… One wonders how so many people could have toiled to produce so little.

Stephen Farber, The Hollywood Reporter

…Sex/Nudity: Extreme… Violence: Extreme…

ScreenIt

‘Disaster Movie.’ The name says it all. Not since the Hindenberg has something crashed and burned as spectacularly as this film. …

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

…barren, laughless spoofs. …

Jim Lane, Sacramento News and Review

…Desperately unfunny comedy that lurches clumsily from one tedious spoof scene to the next, under the mistaken impression that just referencing a film, a celebrity or a TV show is enough to get laughs. …

Matthew Turner, ViewLondon

…a product that, as far as I can see, exists to induce groans from the audience. Is this a goal? Paying $10.50 to groan at the poverty of a picture?…

Sara Schieron, Boxoffice Magazine