Cloves and Fedoras: Ty believes in Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser

Cloves and Fedoras is SeedSing's reviews for little known pieces of pop culture (or older pieces).  Feel free to contact us with your own submissions of undiscovered gems that must be known.

I just finished watching "Joe Dirt 2:Beautiful Loser" and on the heels of my blog earlier this week I have a review.

This movie was exactly what I expected it to be. It wasn't as good as the first, but how many sequels are better than their predecessors? Maybe, only "Godfather 2" is equal, if not better than "Godfather"(ed note - The Empire Strikes Back is the greatest sequel of all time). That's about it though. "Joe Dirt 2:Beautiful Loser" was basically a goof around, everyone just have fun type movie. In a good way. There was no one saying, we have to make this one of the great comedies of the 21st century. They weren't fooling themselves. It's funny, stupid material and that's how you should watch this movie. If you're expecting some type of revelations, you're watching the wrong movie.

It may sound like I'm criticizing it, but I'm not. I genuinely enjoyed this movie. It was just under two hours and it was not a waste of my time. David Spade reprised probably his most well known, if not most famous, role and did just as good a job this time around. He was funny, witty and charming as Joe Dirt. Brandy was back and she was cute and fun this go around as well. Even showing a teeny tiny bit of range, playing a different version of herself in an alternate universe. She was a drug user, alcoholic money grubber. That's not the Brandy that I know and Brittany Daniel did a decent job playing both Brandy's. Dennis Miller was barely in this movie, basically only narrating parts that needed narration. You get one scene with Kickin Wing, who now has become a drug dealer during one of Joe Dirt's dream sequences. Christopher Walken is back, and his performance was the only one that actually underwhelmed me. He was so good in the first movie, but he's barely used in the new one. That's not his fault, that goes on the writers and director. He does get to say his famous line, "Does your mother sew? Tell her to stitch that!" twice in the movie, so at least there's that. Patrick Warburton plays a guardian angel and he just plays an angel version of Patrick Warburton.

My biggest worry was the addition of Mark McGrath. He took over the Kid Rock role from the first movie. I don't care for Kid Rock as a person and I vehemently disagree with his political views, but he was really great as the bully that's in love with Brandy in the First "Joe Dirt". But, playing essentially the same role, Mark McGrath does a pretty decent job. He's rude and crass and mean to Joe and I hated his character by the end of the movie. The fact that he got me emotionally invested, means he must have done something right.

The plot of this movie is basic. Joe is sitting at a bench, a la "Forrest Gump", and he starts to tell a lady his story. This movie involves Joe going back in time after being trapped in a tornado. He gets trapped because he's trying to save a toy for one of his three daughters that she left in a trailer. That's right, Joe and Brandy end up having triplets in this one. He wants to prove he's brave, hence him risking his life in a tornado to save a toy, because people still pick on him and Brandy has to fight his fights. So, he gets trapped in the trailer and the tornado takes him back in time. This, it turns out, is all a dream to show Joe that Brandy and their daughters love him for who he is. He doesn't have to be some tough guy or some rich guy or a jerk. They love him because he's a genuinely good person. A lot of crazy stuff happens while traveling through time. I suggest you watch it to see all the craziness. Some of it is very, very funny.

If you're reading this review and thinking, it's not in the theaters, how do I watch it? I found it, for free with limited commercials, on a website called Crackle (check it out here). If you're a fan of the first, you'll definitely like the second. Turn the movie on and turn your mind off and just laugh at the silliness that is "Joe Dirt 2:Beautiful Loser".

It's a great way to kill two hours on a rainy day.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for Seed Sing. He will always be up to listen to some Van Halen, not Van Hagar. Follow him on twitter @tykulik.

When bad movies are really good.

With the release of "Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser" coming tomorrow, I'd like to take time today to talk about movies like these. 

By this I mean, movies that critics don't like all that much, but a lot of people really like. They may not be good, but these movies have a ton of fans and are a lot of fun. Let's call them "beautiful disasters". These are the movies I will be speaking of today.

Back to "Joe Dirt 2:Beautiful Loser", I'm sure that critics will pan this movie and it will rate very low on the rotten tomato meter. That doesn't matter to me, I will see this movie because I LOVED "Joe Dirt". I was hesitant to see the first "Joe Dirt" because of what the critics were saying, but a friend of mine convinced me to watch it and boy am I glad that he did. "Joe Dirt" is hilarious. David Spade is at his best in this role. I'd say it's his best role since any movie he did with Chris Farley. With the mullet wig and his never die spirit, he's funny throughout the entire movie. The movie is a simple story, kid becomes orphaned, looks for his family, finds them and they're terrible. He meets some friends and his eventual wife on the way. Very simple story, but the actors are so good and funny, I don't care what the critics had to say. This movie is great. This is my favorite Christopher Walken role by far.

  I want to single out three more movies that may be deemed "beautiful disasters".

 First, we have "Southland Tales". This epic disaster of a movie is so insane. I don't really know what it's about, even though I've seen it at least a half a dozen times, but the fact that I watched it that many times proves that I enjoy it on some level. It's a totally incoherent plot, I don't even think director Richard Kelly knows what it's about, but it's a beautiful movie. There are some exceptional shots with beautiful colors and images. The acting in this movie is pretty good too. Dwayne Johnson is the lead actor and, as always, he oozes charisma and you can't take your eyes off him on screen. Justin Timberlake plays a crazed ex soldier. He's not a typical pretty boy in this movie, he is messed up. Great acting is done by Timberlake in this movie. Seann William Scott is no Stifler in this movie. He's a cop that finds himself in a lot of jacked up situations. This is easily one of his best acting performances. Comic actors like Jon Lovitz and Amy Poehler are unrecognizable in their roles. Lovitz is a crooked cop and Poehler is a crazy political activist. There is so much going on in this movie, almost too much, but you have to see this movie for it's sheer craziness.

 Next, we have "Hot Rod". This is one of favorite comedies of all time. Andy Samberg plays the lead character Rod, who thinks he's a stunt man, but he can't even do simple stuff like, a wheelie on his scooter. He finds out his step dad is dying, so he and his "crew" go out to make money for the surgery so Rod can kick his step dad's ass, so he will finally respect him. Another simple plot. This movie was canned by critics again, saying it was unfunny and seemed like an SNL sketch stretched out too long. I couldn't disagree more. The supporting actors in this movie are excellent. Rod's "crew" is made up of his step brother(Jorma Taccone), and two friends of his friends(Bill Hader and the always funny Danny McBride). There are many shenanigans along the way and it's all very funny. Hilarious lines are written for this movie too. One that always sticks out to me, Rod is watching the news and you can hear the broadcaster in the background saying, "the dog walked itself home, ate a pizza and took a nap". I crack up every time I hear it. I love this movie and will defend it to my grave. It's a comedy classic in my eyes. 

 The last "beautiful disaster" I will mention is, "Pootie Tang". I adore this movie. It's about, for all intents and purposes, a super hero that speaks his own language and can beat people up by simply using his belt. The movie is just a hair over an hour long. After the end credits, Bob Costas shows up and says to Pootie Tang, "that was the longest trailer" I've ever seen. You have people like Chris Rock, playing multiple roles in this movie, Wanda Sykes as a hooker with a heart of gold, JB Smoove as Pootie Tang's right hand man and Dave Attell as the bad guy. This movie is bizarre on so many levels, but in a very good way. You get scenes of Pootie Tang as a child having a grown women crying hysterically as he leaves her home, Pootie's dad being mauled by a bear, but it's literally just a guy in a bear costume, Pootie rubbing hot cherry pie on his body to seduce a farmer's daughter and many, many more. It's so ridiculous, but so awesome. Critics once again destroyed this movie, calling it dumb and saying it was impossible to understand. I wonder how they would feel about it now if they went back and watched it knowing that Louis CK wrote and directed it. Everyone loves "Louie"(you can count me as one of these people, it's the best show on TV) and lauds how Louis CK has such a fresh, yet bizarre take on the world. Much like the movie "Pootie Tang". Watch it again, with the knowledge of who Louis CK is now, and I bet you that you'll love it. "Pootie Tang" is great.

 There are many more movies I've left off my list, but I know that everyone has a "beautiful disaster" movie that they watch and love. Let me know in the comment section what some of these movies are, so I can watch and find some new movies that I haven't heard of, or never gave a chance. I'd greatly appreciate it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for Seed Sing. It took him longer to write this article than it took to watch Pootie Tang. Sa da tay. Follow him on twitter @tykulik.