My Name is Judge: The Films of Mike Judge

So Betsy had heard something about Extract, Mike Judge's latest film and moved it up to the top of the queue. She hadn't seen Idiocracy, so I moved that up and decided since we watched Office Space a while ago we could go ahead and watch all of his films. Then Netflix put Beavis and Butt-Head Do America on Watch Instant, ta da, we have all of Mike Judge's films.
Office Space as everyone knows, is pure comic genius. Somehow, someway this mush pot of a movie is a work of art, becoming more than just a cult classic. Everyone in America can relate to the comedy in someway, and it is so accessible that everyone can get into it. Honestly, the film by itself isn't that great, but throughout the jokes are so well placed and well told that you go along. Judge's other films aren't as well crafted and the jokes are less relatable. But still they are accessible and it's easy to laugh, even though you know the movie is dumb.

Beavis and Butt-Head Do America - I can't believe I'm reviewing this film. It's just a long dumb road trip, following two idiots that have no clue what's going on. The jokes aren't that great, the plot is worse than Rush Hour 2, and Beavis and Butt-Head keep doing the same schtick over and over again. But through all that, the film is still enjoyable. When it came out it was fun because they were stupid, and the late 90's were stupid. It all fit, and everyone under 25 could laugh and admit they liked Beavis and Butt-Head. (Except for snooty types who were closeted Beavis and Butt-Head fans.) I thought they were funny. I watched the show sometimes, except I didn't like the music video watching as much.
Watching now, it's just sort of nostalgic. It brought back so many memories from 9th grade, repeating the lines from the show and acting like them around school. But the film holds up, even beyond that, it's fun to see them out in the real world, messing things up and it's all fun. Unless you've grown up or never liked them to begin with.

Idiocracy - Another Mike Judge film that depends wholly on the joke. But instead of ripping apart office life, Judge is ripping apart American life in general. Even though it's set well into the future, the movie could have very well taken place somewhere in the mid-west. Or Florida. I'm sure many of the things people say in the movie, Mike Judge overheard in his hometown of Austin. An example, some people really do think Gatorade is a healthy drink.
The film runs just at about an hour and a half, any longer and the film would have worn out it's welcome. When everyone on screen is retarded, it gets old after a while, and it suffers from the same problem as B&B Do America, if you don't like laughing at idiots, you aren't going to like the film.
Case in point: Betsy. I had seen this once before with my brothers, who love laughing at idiots. It's a family tradition. So when I sat down with Betsy I expected more of the same amount of laughing and genuine love for the movie's idiocy. But Betsy doesn't like laughing at idiots for a whole hour and a half. In fact, she probably only likes it 45 minutes worth. After that, she was bored, and I have to admit, on second viewing it's a little less funny. And that' sort of how I feel about King of the Hill, the re-runs aren't that entertaining.

Extract - Speaking of not that funny. Imagine Office Space with less jokes, characters you didn't care about, a plot that made no sense, sub-plots that had no point, a main character that didn't need to be in the film, a useless Ben Affleck playing a druggie that there was no reason Jason Bateman should be friends with. Did I mention the lack of jokes?
This wasn't a drama. Or a thriller. It was supposed to be a comedy. Are we supposed to be laughing at Jason Bateman's demise? Except, he never really has one. The saddest thing is that his wife won't have sex with him. I'd be pretty sad if I was married to Kristen Wiig and she didn't want to have sex. Maybe she should have been telling jokes at least, because she's the funniest women on the planet. Why put the funniest woman on the planet in a jokeless role?
This is Mike Judge's worst film. After the culmination of Office Space, Idiocracy, and two hit TV shows, this is where he's at?
He must be drinking too much Brawndo, because he's not the king of the hill anymore.