Review: National Lampoon's Movie Madness
National Lampoon's Movie Madness is not funny. It's not unfunny in a way that certain comedies from the past can be, where the humor relies on situations and references that haven't translated to modern times. It's also not unfunny in the way that really smart comedy can sometimes be, where you see the cleverness of the observation, though it doesn't elicit a chuckle. No, it's just not funny. Movie Madness consists of three different and unrelated segments, each running approximately 30 minutes. We have a parody (if such a word can be used) of "growth movies" (going away so I can find myself), a parody of soap opera melodramas, and a spoof of cop movies. To use the word parody or spoof would imply that there are jokes associated with these stories, but really, almost no jokes exist. The tales themselves feel like exercises in creative writing, or even collegiate projects. Given the Harvard origins of National Lampoon, this makes sense. However, wha
